From www.gimmeyourbestshot.blogspot.com...

"I dig Music. I'm on Drugs"

Hopefully anyone who reads the title of this post knows where the quote came from.

Mel and I once talked about finding the perfect girl and what qualities she would need to have. One of our questions went something like this: What movie would my future wife have to like in order for us to get married? In other words, is there a movie out there that I think is so great that I would be forced to end a relationship if she didn't like it? Also, this question will be easy to write, but very hard for me to answer.

Best Concert I've ever seen? (I may have to do a top 10 list)

Those are the questions and here are my answers.

I've thought about this first question alot. To use a quote from High Fidelity (big ups pete raps) "What really matters is WHAT you like, not what you ARE like. Books, records, films – these things matter! Call me shallow, but it’s the fucking truth.” I used to think that this was kind of true. Then I when I was in Florida, I really thought this was the god's honest, gospel truth. The sort of things that passed as quality entertainment in Florida and the reaction that I got for liking some of the things that I liked (Sin City, Suicide Kings, music - my uncle called every other music that wasn't on the hip hop radio channel 'gay'. Not even like artists like Cher. He called everything gay. Ran the gamut from Led Zeppelin to John Legend to Maroon 5, all gay. ZEPPELIN, GAY!?!?! What the fuck?!?! I think my face started twitching from the incomprehendable statement, ZEPPELIN. GAY) ,this type of shit was one of the main reasons I hated being down there, so yeah, I guess I truly believed in Rob Gordon's quote from above.

Now I don't think it's quite a 100% true. Some people just don't hear, see, have access to as much movies, music, books as some people. Yes, some people are just close minded and will not branch out at all. This sucks but it's not the end of the world when it comes to movies and music I've decided. I think you can only do so much prodding with the"hey, didja ever hear of...It rocks!! or "yeah, it's an independent release, it wasn't playing at Tinlsetown, har har har." before you sound like a jack-ass know-it-all. Don't be like that, it's not cool.

Of course, I would rather talk about movies with someone who sees more than just Jerry Bruckheimer productions. Same with music. If MTV is the beginning and the end of what you know about music, there probably isn't much depth there. But that doesn't mean that these two can't be entertaining. I enjoyed The Rock and Jay-Z was all over MTV.

With that said, there are two movies that immediately come to mind. If you don't like them I can not be truly friends with you. The aforementioned Almost Famous, and Field of Dreams.

Field of Dreams is a stone cold lock pick for this. If I were dating someone and this movie got mentioned and she said she HATED IT. I honestly don't think I could maintain that relationship. I couldn't look at myself in the mirror. She hates Field of Dreams, get yourself out of there man for God Sakes! I could plausibly tolerate a lukewarm response "Ehh, it's alright" provided that some solid arguments were made. (what these arguments would be, well, my point exactly) That would piss me off, but not a breakupable offense. However, if she said "I didn't get the dead players, that can't really happen" Peace, nice knowing you.

Of course, learning all of this early on in the relationship would be much, much better off. I'm guessing at the rehersal dinner someone bringing up James Earl Jones as the voice of Verizon and then my soon to be wifey saying, "Wasn't he in Field of Dreams? I walked out of that while it was in the theater" would be hard to get out of. It would put quite the damper on the Honeymoon however.

Almost Famous is not the mortal lock that Field of Dreams is. I think it used to be but for some reason it's slipped a little bit lately. I used to always feel like that movie would restore my faith in humanity after watching it. I would always be in a good mood after watching it and poorly sing "Tangerine." But the last time I watched it I felt kinda bummed out. Maybe it was just a one time deal, I don't know.

I think there are more things that a person could make a legitimate gripe about Almost Famous. Obviously, you won't hear any from me but I'm sure someone could come up with some that I would rationally listen to. If my girlfriend called it sexist and ran down the ideas much like the fact checker did for Rolling Stone as the reason for hating the movie, I suppose I'd listen to that. I wouldn't necessarily agree. I mean, the movie doesn't have to be moral to be entertaining. I would still be distraught if I found out a close friend didn't like the movie.

To sum it up, Field of Dreams -mortal lock, would break up with girlfriend if she hated it. Almost Famous - near mortal lock, only one semi-legit reason that the girlfriend could give that would not neccessitate a break up.

I'm going to have to think more about the concert question.

THE RACE

This entry may be more convoluted than usual. I'm on my sister's computer with the DSL which means high speed music. So Revision is loud and nasty per always as i try to type. Ya'll been warned -Wu Tang

Like any major sporting event or large concert, the ancillary aspects prior to the actual event are usually the most troublesome. Parking, long lines, heavy traffic, confusion, these things are rather common. And always seem alot worse when they are happening compared to when it's all over with.

So the Preakness was no different. What was different about the Preakness compared to your average event is that you can bring in mass quantities of non-glass beverages. All the cans of beer you can carry. Which for the seven of us was six 30 racks. Shock and disbelief is the proper reaction dearest reader.

Ok, right to the nitty gritty

It was the absolute biggest party I've ever been a part of. Picture the early drinking of Cortaca with the sea of humanity of Prospect day but only on the scale of Fucking Woodstock. 90,000 people were on the infield.

Highlights / memorable moments:
-pouring beer on each other's heads seemed to be the thing that happened in our group so eventually i got some on my head. I spiked up my hair. It was pretty shaggy at the time so it stood up high. The sun baked it and it stayed straight up the rest of the day, through dinner back at the hotel. It wasn't even like gel hard either, you could run your hands through it if you wanted to. I wanted to.

-The flashing aspect of Mardi Gras was in effect. It wasn't the dominant theme of the afternoon, like it would be at Mardi Gras but you noticed. I'm not mad. The rest of the crowd also seemed to enjoy it. (ed's note: I have never been to Mardi Gras)

-My first viewing experience of, as the Red Dragon from "Made" called it, Charlie. I've never seen that before and there it was right out in the infield. I wouldn't call it a highlight but I'd be lying if it wasn't memorable.

-Our styrofoam coolers that we brought in to keep the beers cold lasted roughly four hours. I don't think this is a lot shorter or a lot longer than I expected. The destruction of the coolers was bound to happen and it did. Although when some wayward drunk dragging his fancy dancy plastic cooler along fell over into ours, smashing it all to hell, I acted out. I bounded out of the foldout chair (that was not mine) and gave my best kick right to the side of his plastic cooler. I wasn't really pissed, I just thought it would be funny. It was. Then about 45 secs. later, after sitting down I really thought I broke my big toe. I expected to find some blood covered socks when I got back to the hotel.

-We made it to the fence to see the start of the final race. I'm six three so I could see pretty good. Some 40 plus year old, drunk, overweight lady also wanted to see good. So, since her boyfriend was old and had a creaky back and couldn't support her, they both thought it would be a good idea if she got on my shoulders. Initally I agreed, simply because I was stunned. How often do complete strangers ask you get on your shoulders? Not often in my case. It took about 15 seconds to realize that this was not a good idea and it was not going to happen. She ended up going on the boyfriends shoulders, pissing him and a lot of others behind them off. Thinking about it now, I would have immediately developed curvature of the spine had that whale dry docked on my broad but ultimately non weight baring shoulders.

-I gambled some on the race. I had never bet on horses before so the whole experience of placing a bet, the lingo, etc. was new to me. I knew I wanted to bet on Afleet Alex. So I put $15 on him. Won $64.50 on that one. I also wanted to do a trifecta and box it which I put $30 on. Not as much as I intended, I got confused at the booth. Which if you were like me until a week ago you wouldn't have know that when you "box" it, it means that the horses can come in any order, 1-2-3. As long as they finish in the top three you win. I had Afleet Alex, Smarty T and Noble Causeway, 3-5-12. I got two outta three, if I picked horse 13 instead of 3 I would have gotten paid lovely.

-After picking the absolute slowest line to cash out in, everyone else had made their way to the car. When we got there our car was the last one in the fenced-in lot so we blocked at least four cars in. When we got there, the people we blocked in were calm and civil. Leaving was a different story. Seems that I was not the last to reach the car. Matt, the one with the keys, was still not present. Now, I can understand being annoyed if you get blocked in. But it was a little ridiculous how upset the a-holes were getting. You were just outside drinking all day long on a Saturday, what do you have to rush home for? A lot of Fortune 500 meetings taking place on a Saturday in the Baltimore area that I'm not aware of? I was not taking their not taking being blocked in well very well at all. So with the mob mentality swirling around we were pressured into attempting to move the car. Not easy. So with the six of us plus the roid raging assbags on a tight deadline, we tried. The back went up easy. The front, the part with the fucking engine, did not go up so easy. We got it moved a little bit but soon the owners of the lot saw us in action. As you might expect, seeing a bunch of drunk people try to move something that doesn't belong to them in the first place did not go over so well. The cops got involved. I thought Eddie was going to get arrested. Matt finally shows up and it was around this time that we discover his side-view mirror had come off the car. Still attached but only by the wire. The cops, Matt and the rest us did not enjoy seeing this. Somehow we got blamed and scolded as the real culprits peeled out and got to wherever was so fucking important.

Some other stuff happened too. I can't recall all of it nor does it all need to be recalled.

We left the next morning and were somewhere in PA in a Arby's / Roller Skating rink parking lot, trying to decide on a contest for the second to last seat selection. It was bush jumping. (i'm showing restraint, all the mentions of "box" and now bush jumping, the double entrendres are all out there). It started off on the lowest height and was getting progressively higher when we heard some lady tell us that there is a playground nearby. "You might want to go there, it might be more useful" yadda yadda yadda. In a pause I was thinking, "no, we're good, we're almost done, why is she talking to us, why would we need to go to a playground?" Then she started in with some non-sense about us "disrespecting the bushes, do you know how much landscaping costs? I'll call the cops if you don't leave." She was doing stuff like this. Simply put, she said we were disrespecting bushes and was willing to call the cops if we didn't stop. I don't know about you but I never thought I'd write that sentence or read it in my entire life. Just a truly absurd situation.

Some other stuff happened and I made it home later on.

Baltimore Recap:

Six days ago I left Rochester for the Baltimore area to go an O's game and the mane (ha!) event, the Preakness. I had heard stories from the people that went last year. Sounded like a party of epic porportions. So the days before leaving, I had a weird mix of apphrension and being skeptical. It can't be as crazy as they made it out to be? What if it was that crazy? Could I handle it? Do you really hire people to carry your beer in from the parking lot to the front gates? All of this, among many other questions were swirling around my head as I tried to sleep Thursday night.

After picking up some Majik rolls at Jim and Ralph's we were on the road, the trip got off to a bit of an antagontistic start as I yelled out to the crowd of charity bike riders "June 18th Bitches!!" from the back seat of the car. For those who don't know, June 18th is the Survival of the Fittest. Just check out that site, it's got maps of the race for pete's sake!! Last year was the first year, sadly I was not a part of it. I'm pretty sure I was somewhere west of the Mississippi.

Getting back to the trip, I think the first major highlight that I don't think I'll forget is when we made our first stop to change seats in Williamsport, PA. Home of the Little League World Series. Others might have been democratic and just rotated seats. Not us, we had contests and games to see who got first pick of seats, that's how we roll. Some ideas were thrown back and forth until genius struck fellow author Dan H. A beer chugging contest. In the Little League World Series Parking lot, overlooking the field. At about 1 p.m. Knowing what you know about my stomach and how well I chug beer, the first coupling of Zach Fields and Vomit could have made a very early appearance. But I didn't think about it too much and down the hatch warm Budweiser went. I finished a disputed third, which even finishing was an achievement. Not vomming, even bigger achievement.

After getting back in the car, I just thought about the symbolism of a group of 22-23 year olds chugging a beer overlooking the site where the youth of the baseball world are celebrated, ridiculed and put under immense pressure. I'm not sure what the symbolism exactly meant but it meant something.

Eventually we got to the Baltimore area. What a dump. I guess the Inner Harbor area is cool and trendy and what not. The rest is not. I've never seen The Wire ever but it's accurate, trust me.

From here on out to honor the gully nature of B-More, bullet points:
-The O's game was on Friday night. Weather was overcast, rainy. Wanted Boog's BBQ but the line was bonkers and our seats were in deep left field
-Sammy Sosa was still on the DL, I say he was ducking us.
-Pat Burrell is not a quick left fielder
-Brian Roberts and Tejada, who's hotter right now up the middle?
-A button-down shirt was far from adequate, I was damn cold.
-The Syracuse contingent that we met down there stayed until about the third inning, probably better off, someone would have gotten asked to leave I'm sure.
-The Phillies ended up winning, 9-3.
-Bought a 30 pack of the High Life from a convient store on the walk back to the car. I don't want to overstate the grimey city life but it was defintely one of those stores where you put the money in and they whirl it around, all the while standing behing bullet-proof (maybe) plastic, then whirl your change back to you.


Saturday festivites coming later today, Bike Race shopping.

You may have clicked on this link earlier today while on Page 2 at espn.com. I rarely read stories on Page 2 that aren't Bill Simmons related. Once in a while I will but mainly because of stories like this I hardly ever do.

What we have here is a legitimate news story, granted it's not going to make headlines all over the globe but stories of clashes between league bigwigs and players and coaches regarding dress code have a surprisingly high interest/news value. (MJ's original sneakers, Jim McMahon, all the fines regarding uni's in the NoFunLeague, etc) And baggy shorts, if you listen to some people, are the cause of the decline of Western Civilization.

So what does ESPN do to cover it? They slap a 'staff report' (read- interns) together, briefly mention the actual newsworthiness behind the story and then it's fucking amateur hour with Photoshop and unfunny punch lines.

I do think that there is a story here. Like I said, it's not Watergate but it's a story. Coach Nolan wants to honor his father and class it up but the league doesn't want him to because it's basically an ad for all of the gear that you can get on nfl.com or where ever NFL merchandise is sold.

I get why the league does this, so I'm not really hating on them, they aren't in business to make Nolan get on the cover of GQ; they are trying to get paid. Understandable.

It's also understandable why espn would cover this story the way they did. They don't want the NFL to get pissy at them. The fall out and reaction from "Playmakers" was the clearest example I can think of. They cover the NFL so they aren't going to criticize their own. I know that ESPN is a business too. They actually did mention in the article that the decision was based all about money so they didn't miss the entire point. But in the end, they need to cover their own ass as well. I understand all of this. I don't need you telling me, "Zach, that's the way sports work, it's a business." I get it. The word 'Sport' was in the name of my major at college, so yes, I understand.

But, the bigger story, I think, is ESPN just rolling over and making lame jokes out of it. Shouldn't a coach's preference to what he would like to wear and it being denied because of marketing obligations be somewhat of a big deal? If you want to cling to the belief that sports was oh so much more pure back in the day, wouldn't Nolan wanting to honor the past and getting flat out denied, strictly so the NFL can push some gear, wouldn't that peeve at least some readers of espn.com?

I guess my main beef is that when people just accept everything that ESPN throws at you under the guise of a news organization instead of Disney's most profitable commodity. If you don't realize the difference, then you as a consumer of news, are being misled. Yes, it's partially your fault. You can stop watching and reading. But you won't and neither will I. It's a necessary evil to take in whatever ESPN is selling. You have to sit through the Silver Bullet Six Pack of questions or the Budweiser Hot Seat and the controversey of the day to see some box scores or some highlights.

You can recognize that when they call themselves the worldwide leader it's probably true. As the leader in covering sports, I'm not so sure, marketing and packaging products for the consumer, on the other hand, is probably more likely.

(note to any HR workers at espn, this was posted by someone else, I, Zach Fields would not mind at all working at espn. Thank you)

I was reading earlier that a lot of blogs link to stories so I figured I'd jump on the bandwagon quite late. Just some interesting things to back up my own personal beliefs, kinda like political talk shows. James Carville explains "Most people watch political talk shows for the same reason a drunk uses a street lamp, for support, not illumination." I liked that.

Mitch Albom is a hack

Not breaking news by any means and I don't know if ESPN, as Jim Rome would say, "smacked one of their own" and reported this but basically Albom filed a story about the MSU Final Four game on Friday, the game was on Saturday, story came out on Sunday. Wrote about Cleeves and Richardson being at the game, they weren't. I know all of that mamby pamby "Five people in Heaven" bull shit has nothing to do with this but I never liked him anyway. Weird haircut too, the way his hair covered his ears, Spock looking like bastid.

Actually, this is the only link for now. I have an eye doctor appointment. I always feel dumb calling it an "eye doctor." I know the real word has opto- somewhere in it but I'm never sure what it is. It's like calling the dentist, my teeth doctor.

CLUTCH ATHLETES

This answer will be much shorter than the music question. Let's get down to it:

Baseball - Derek Jeter. Four rings in his eight full years. Over .300 batting average. There are more stats out there to support this. There are probably guys out there with better stats but I don't really care. The play against the A's, home runs against the Diamondbacks, etc. The Yankees put a 'C' on him for what he did in the playoffs.

Football - Tom Brady. He is 9-0 in the playoffs. I was thinking about saying Joe Montana. They do get compared quite often. But I think to do what the Patriots are doing in these parity heavy times is more impressive. I don't want to hear about "the system, the system" Last time I checked, Bill Walsh had quite the system down pat too. I know as a Raidas fan I know you don't approve because of the Snow Game. I'm sorry.

Hockey - Paul Kariya. He's only been in the playoffs four times in his career. The only extended run was two years ago against the Red Wings. Twelve points. ( I looked it up because I don't know much about hockey and needed something to go on). No, I picked Paul because of one thing. When he got railed unconscious by Scott Stevens he just laid motionless on the ice. You could tell when he woke up because his mask suddenly filled with condensation. Made his way to the bench then was back out on the ice soon after. His slap shot from the left side that beat the goalie and the MGM lion-like roar and fist pump that followed was one of the best sporting moments of my life. So that's why I picked him.

Before I get to basketball, I say this one was a little difficult. There were a couple of people I thought of right away. Some that had their moments, some I thought that would be too obvious, some that have been written about to death. But at the end, it comes down to someone that satisfies all of the above criteria...Reggie Miller. Of all the ideas I've thought seriously about writing in this space, a Reggie Miller reflection piece was on the top of the list. Really, I got some rough ideas down already. So I'm not going to go for the gusto here but he was my favorite player of all time, I patterned my game after his, I've read his book - "I love being the enemy," and was hated by an entire city more viciously than any other athlete I can remember strictly because of his playoff performances.

No way, I'm not out, I'm safe - Rex Hudler

Ah yes, the desert island disc question. I've contemplated this question many times but usually just bailed out before answering it. This time I’m going to give it some effort. It is going to be hard though. It takes me a half hour to pick out three CD’s to take a trip to Wegmans let alone to a radio free island.

The fact that you can take three helps. I don’t want to take this to seriously though. I mean, the ghost of Jimi Hendrix is not gonna get pissed if I don’t include Are you Experienced? And I don’t want to give too much thought on what CD’s I have that are already on the famous Top 50, 100, etc. lists. Rolling Stone is not going to email me in disgust that I don’t have a Bob Dylan CD on the list. So these are the three CD’s:

Not so fast (some stipulations and declarations):

I’m not going to pick any double disc CD’s. I feel this is cheating. No live CD’s either. These are epic performances but they also tend to double as greatest hits CD’s, so they can’t be on the list. Which brings me to my next point, no greatest hits CD’s. Not that I would but I wouldn’t think it would be fair to take The Beatles #1 over Rubber Soul. Has to be a proper studio album. No soundtracks or other compilations.

Lastly, the fact that it’s not a deserted island and there are going to women there and beers to drink, it sounds to me kinda like a party. Now I know that this might sound like an answer Kid Rock would give but I don’t think bringing depressing music that is going to bum some people out would be a good idea. Or music that is brilliant but the subject matter is something that people wouldn’t want to hear over and over again. Granted, there are a lot of CD’s that would be good to listen to in the headphones while you are all alone while everyone else is cooking pulled pork and you wonder, “How the fuck did that canoe trip end up so far off course? I mean, we’re in the ocean for Christ sakes!!” But for the good of the island, I don’t think I’ll be taking any thing of this sort. Sorry Pet Sounds, Illmatic, RATM’s Catalog, Reasonable Doubt, Everyone Knows this is Nowhere, Innervisions, What’s Going on? to name a few.

Without further ado, here we go:

A Tribe Called Quest
MIDNIGHT MARAUDERS

I thought it was necessary to put a rap CD on the list. All music by white guys and guitars would have gotten too repetitive. And for some of the reasons I mentioned above, I chose this CD over other rap classics that I own. Basically, I just asked myself, would I rather listen to Midnight Marauders over and over or Title **? Midnight Marauders kept advancing like it was March Madness. That’s the approach I took to whittle it down to the finalists.

I like the Midnight Marauders Tour Guide intro and the idea overall. Nothing spectacular. It’s funny throughout the CD. Good enough for me. The first song is Steve Biko (Stir It Up). It’s a head nodder for sure. Phife and Q-Tip go together like peanut butter and jelly. This song, like the rest of them can move a party but not on some Lil’ Jon level. Where you need to be all crunked up and put your brain away. It has meaningful lyrics, but at the same time some that are funny and ribald. Q-tip rhymes about sex most of the time but you don’t really notice it. Sure, you probably would if you had to if this was 33% of the music you had but I don’t think this is necessarily bad.

We on Award Tour, example #2 of almost perfect production on a rap CD that filled with perfection. The more you hear the lyrics you will pick up funny references that you didn’t get the first time. This is probably important. “I never let a statue tell me how nice I am.” Let em’ know Phife. I could listen to this song 15 times a day. And it’s probably not even in my top five songs on the CD. An important quality. The CD tour guide sums up why I actually don’t listen to this CD as much as I should. I do feel that I need to be chillin’ out at night listening to this CD. It is a CD that does sound better at night. I put this on during the day and I just want to ill out and think about what’s up for later tonight.

8 Million Stories is Phife’s solo cut. If you had to, I mean absolutely had to, skip a song, it’d be this one. Still very good. “To top it off, Starks got ejected,” a mid 90’s time capsule sports reference. Starks will not be remembered very much by anyone 10+ years either side of me. But for ball fans my age, you bring up John Starks, you’ll get a reaction. Plus this CD eventually gets people asking “Who is Bob Power?” and the legend and stories will grow.

Sucka Nigga- Looking at the title, this has to potential to alienate some island dwellers. Give it some time, let it soak in. Just listen. Listen to what is being said.

“The night is on my mind, but the sun still shines.” My point exactly. It’s actually not my point, but I agree. Midnight has great lines like “On a midnight run like DeNiro.” I always liked that line. Writing about this CD seems harder than the one that didn’t make the cut. I don’t know how to sum this CD up as well. I almost think this is better. If it were really easy to write about it, then I don’t think you can call it a classic. Or I just can’t write.

If you need much more from a song, you are quite the beggar I’d say. Not much better than We can get down. I don’t really have much to say. Top-notch production, Phife and Q-Tip come through nicely. Sun rises and sets. Big surprise.

This is a perfect song. Perfect. Electric Relaxation. “Relax your self girl, please set-tle down.” Maybe the most argued about chorus. Lots of misunderstandings about it. Q-Tip -“Or we can do like uncle L, swing and ep in my jeep.” Actually thought it was 'eff in my jeep' I will still believe that it is. The song is sexually explicit, not like 2 Live Crew though, kind of on the sly. Well, except for “Bust off on your couch, now you got semen’s furniture.” Not too sly with that one Phife.

“If I ever solo, my favorite MC would be me.”–Phife. Clap your hands is tight just for that line. This one will grow on you as well. Overlooked at first but people will start to feel it in due time.

In Oh My God, Q-Tip says “Drafting of the poets, I’m the number seven pick.” I think this is a great line. Doesn’t really get all into that “I’m the best” mantra, it’s sort of self-depreciating. And for this one too “It’s not like honey dip would want to get with me, but just in case, I got more condoms than TLC.” Well-done Phife. The Busta vocal sample works well.

A lull before the back to back to back classics to end it. So Keep it Rollin’ might get skipped unfairly.

The first of the three back-to-back-to back classics is The Chase, Part III. Yowsers is this fuckin good. Top five track. Inside jokes a plenty. “Styles are incomplete same as Vinny Testaverde.” –Phife. Accurate. The Biz Marke vocal sample, Don’t you know Nobody Beats the Biz?? I love the last part - “And we out like shout, nine tre. Oh, oh, I don’t want to say nine tre, my man extra p said don’t say the year, so this is for eternity.” Probably my highlight of the song. “Rock rock on”

The title says it all. Lyrics to Go. To write about the lyrics of this song would be redundant after looking at the title. They say it right there in print. Lyrics to go. So I will cease giving examples about the lyrical genius of this song. Well, except for “Like Jordan with the mic, wanna gamble?” Basically.

The last cut, God Lives Through, holds it’s own in the lyrical shadow of the previous song. But saying it just “holds it’s own” isn’t really giving the song it’s just due. Far from it dude. Phife just absolutely rips it, “Walk past mc’s like that girl did the pharcyde”. So many lines from the pair that you would rewind it for. I’m sure you’ve heard many times, rappers shout out their friends or rappers from the same city, stuff like that. In this song, the way Phife does it is just classic. The best mentioning of mc’s from Queens ever. “See, I like to get down Jack”

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
BORN TO RUN

This CD doesn’t make this list four months ago. Not until I started listening to it almost every night before I went to bed while I was in Naples. No TV, shitty Dvd’s that I’d already seen, no social life, not wanting to listen to my Uncle talk about his girlfriend troubles or how much money he makes off of real estate, dead tired from working, all these things contributed to why I listened to music to go to sleep by. But something about this CD separated it from the others. Listening to stories about people that don’t have it all figured out either. Stories about finding your place in life. Maybe things aren’t going to work out like you had planned or dreamed they would. That’s life I guess. They can always get better though. Or fuck, maybe they won’t, who knows. And on a side note, if you ever left for a road trip in the middle of the night and didn’t play this CD, your experience was not as grand as it could have been.


Everybody knows how this CD starts off: Thunder Road. Just looking at that title, Thunder Road inspires awe. Rock song-writing perfection. Just poetry. Yeah, the whole blue-collar pick yourself up thing may get old for some people. But I don’t care. As I tried to write what I thought about the song while I listened to it, I made more mistakes writing than any other during this song just because I’m so focused on the song. I hang on every word; it’s phrased so wonderfully. What makes Bruce Springsteen Bruce Springsteen is that he can write about common problems and make you think that it’ll be okay; you’ll get through it, maybe. Hopefully. I know that this is not a new revelation. And “Waste your summer praying in vain for a savior to rise from these streets” may hit a little too close to home for me right about now.

An almost complete shift in tone, 10th Avenue Freeze Out is next. If this doesn’t make you move around island dweller, you may have scurvy my unlucky friend. The Big Man, Clarence makes the song. “The night is dark but the sidewalk's bright and lined with the light of the living.” I like that a lot. Especially how fast he says it. No Twista but still fast. I’m not sure what the 10th Avenue Freeze Out is exactly but I don’t care. I’ll have plenty of time to try and figure it out on the island. “Tenth av-en-ue freeze out.” Preach it Bruce.

“And the world is busting at the seams / and your just a prisoner of your dreams / Holding on for your life 'cause you work all day / To blow 'em away in the night” Bruce sings in Night. Maybe the “Work sucks but we’ll be miserable together once we let the night take us away” sentiment is not the best for the island. Since it’s an island there aren’t many that would have a 9-5 job in some cubicle that they need to escape from. But maybe they did before they got to the island and are glad to get rid of that bullshit. Bruce singing about it makes it even better. I could see that.

Backstreets starts off with some lovely piano. Bruce is just so lyrical, you really can’t just put it on and drift away to it. I can’t listen to him half-assed. And this isn’t even the stark Nebraska where you don’t really have a choice. For example, I’m trying to write about all the feelings that I have as I listen to the song, but I end up just listening to the song, staring at the computer. This is a good thing. Not for the blog but for evidence that it should be on the list. “Trying to learn to walk like the heroes / We thought we had to be / Well after all this time /To find we're just like all the rest.” *gulp* Well, might as well find out at 23 and deal with it before I get too far. A tough lesson but a necessary one. “Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets.”

To wait and put the title song fifth takes a pair of brass ones, and I’ll be damned if the payoff isn’t more than worth it. I don’t normally consider the production of a rock song too often. It either rocks or it doesn’t. But Born to Run is definitely different. I am amazed on how they made this song. No, I don’t know how they did but I like it a lot. I know it’s the Spector Wall of Sound style, I don’t really know what that means. Many others know more about it than I. The Big Man rips it. Again, pure poetry. “But til’ then, tramps like us, baby we were born to run.”

I can sum up She’s the One
Male Island Dweller – You know what my favorite Bruce song is?
Female Island Dweller – No, Born in the U.S.A?
Male Island Dweller – Nope, it’s probably She’s the One, it reminds me of you

Male Island Dweller has sexual relations with Female Island dweller.


After She’s the One, it’s Meeting across the river. It’s easily the saddest song on the CD. When people are forced to do things to make ends meet that they don’t want to do, unfortunate things happen. No such thing as easy money. I’m glad the song ends when it does, nothing good probably came of it but at least you can postpone thinking about it.

Jungleland. The song is poetic as a bastard. Just like that last sentence was. “Barefoot girl sitting on the hood of a Dodge / Drinking warm beer in the soft summer rain.” Vivid imagery. Trademark Bruce characters, Magic Rat, local cops. The basic foundation of rock and roll music is in this song. Granted, this song probably doesn’t do anything you haven’t heard before musically speaking. But I’m not picking songs for innovation; I’m picking them for how good they are. That’s why I chose this CD. You think it’s going to end in somewhat of a whimper then Bruce decides that it’s not over. “And the poets down here / Don't write nothing at all /They just stand back and let it all be / And in the quick of the night / They reach for their moment /And try to make an honest stand / But they wind up wounded / Not even dead /Tonight in Jungleland”

Built to Spill
KEEP IT LIKE A SECRET

I picked this CD because it does not have one bad song on it. 1-10 rock out like their life depended on it. And after reading about Bruce’s lyrical opus, Born to Run, this album doesn’t hang with it on that level. But that’s ok, not much can. It is just great rock music. And it did come down to this or The Blue Album by Weezer. Everybody knows that CD is the balls so writing about it would be more easily accessible. Writing that “Say it ain’t so” rocks hard, people would be like, “Hell yeah it does.” Which is fine and good. I guess I’m admitting that I’m picking this CD over that because I want people to hear this. If I had to rank the CD comparatively, The Blue Album gets a 9.999998 and Keep it Like a Secret gets a 9.999999. People would probably not agree, The Blue Album is a certified classic, gets love from everybody. But I think this is better. Just because not as many people have heard it repeatedly over the years like they did The Blue Album doesn’t make it any less classic. So that’s why it’s on the list. And I just wanted to shake it up a little bit, you know, let's get crazy, we'll get some coke, some hookers and we'll fu-- Sorry Pat O'brien took over my computer there for a minute.

Starts off with The Plan- What’s wrong with this song? Does it not shred enough for you? Is the guitar work not epic enough for you? Ok, I’m not quite sure what all of the lyrics are about. As it happens with a lot of the songs on this CD, the guitar power chords just drop the mother load down on your ears. I know I don’t really know how to describe it. Doug Martsch will get loose on the guitar, but without really going into the deep jam band end. He dips his calf into the jam band waters but pulls it out just in time.

Next up is Center of the Universe. Brilliantly worded phrases in this one. “I don’t like this air, but that doesn’t mean I’ll stop breathing it, who doesn’t think they’re the center of the universe.” If you are on the island and can’t rock out to this song, sorry pal, you need to get next to my scurvy addled friend and we will soon be ravaging your belongings. This shit rocks. Pretty much after every song I’ll say so. “Don't look now / Just keep watching your TV / Hating what's to see / Waiting for someone to say something that's RIGHT!” Fuckin’ A right Doug.

People really need to hear this CD, Doug Martsch is not to be trifled with holding the gee-tar. Carry the Zero is in the three hole. That story about the dude that pushes the rock up the hill only to have it fall back down before it gets to the top, Sisyphus , well this song reminds me of that. You think Doug is gonna just get loose, just freak out and you’ll be rocking your head too hard, you’ll be pushing that boulder down the uncharted territory on the other side, you'll rock out too hard and have a headache. But he just pushes it right to the top before he looses control. The rock is tumbling at a rapid clip back down the hill. Easy darling, it’s alright. The fall back down the hill is just as fun. Hang on but don’t worry it’ll be a fun ride. I think you need to hear this song to catch my drift. Guitar Hero Doug Martsch.

You could dance to this music, this whole CD. It wouldn’t be hard. Sidewalk, song #4. Fast paced rock without the long hair and ripped jeans. I would bounce around like a mofo at a concert. It’s like they can just flip a switch from casually keeping the pace and the beat to just getting ready to fly off the handle rock. Not too similar to anything I’ve heard.

The fifth song, Bad Light, starts off a little slower than the rest, you can try to catch your breath. But Doug won’t let you for too long. Solid track, not gonna set the world on fire.

Time Trap is epic. I like how the lyrics start on this one, almost on the drop of a hat. I really like his voice too, distinctive, almost whiny but not complaining type of whining. The music just keeps building, building on this song. You know it’s going to get hectic in here real quick. It’s like watching a tidal wave almost take out someone’s porch while you are watching from a safe distance. “Is it gonna hit the house? Give it time, give it time. Oh shit! There it goes, bye bye plastic furniture.”

They follow Time Trap with Else. It’s a hypnotic track, you’ll get sucked in listening to this one. If you were chemically altered and accidentally (or on purpose) had this song on repeat, don’t make any fuckin plans

After Else comes the masterpiece of the album. You were right is a song writing homage to all the greats of rock and roll at its absolute pinnacle. There is nothing out there like this song. Such a bad-ass idea. In lesser hands, the idea and execution of this song could have been really fucked up. Read the lyrics, see if you notice some familiar phrases from rock’s past. Manages to chronicle the history of rock and roll, the optimism and the hope. Now looking at it today, Doug says rock let us down. “Life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone” The 60’s didn’t work man, bummer. “Do you ever think about it?” Martsch repeats as the song ends. Talking about rock and roll and the lost innocence. I’m guessing people do think about it but with rose colored glasses that most people like to wear, I don’t know for sure.

Singing about not seeing everything for whatever reason, whether you choose not too. People blinded by other things in there life. But it’s ok “isn’t everyone” Doug says in Temporarily Blind. Probably right. And they end the song with these lyrics “Yeah, they might let you say it / But it'd take all day to explain it.” Then follow it up with unintelligible mumbling. No really, that’s what it says on the lyrics page. Unintelligible mumbling. I like this.

The closer is Broken Chairs. It starts off with angry guitar playing. I like the line “Who themselves are mirrors of apprehension” Nice. Whistle while you slay fellas, good work. The way he says “Alright” over and over again is defiant for sure. Pissed about something.

So there it is, I've written more about music than ever before. That's it, that's the list -PTI. My eyes are malfunctioning and I don't know about clutch athletes right now. Tomorrow that will go up. Look forward to your list Domingo. If anyone else wants to weigh in, feel free. For your sake I hope it's not this long, there are better things to do I'm sure.

NEW FEATURE

This is the completion of an idea that started about five years ago. Dan Hoock, a Gates Chili alum, stellar first basemen - the relay on a 9-3-2 assist from various baseball teams of our youth- and an Orangemen, had the idea that we should email each other back and forth, holding court on various topics of the day. While I was a freshman, toiling away in the cramped confines of Boothroyd, two gentlemen from the ROC attending college in seperate Central New York cities started the adventure. Everything went well, I even ended a couple of emails with a "Whatever happened to...?" which SI and USA Today up and ran with. One of the people who I wondered about was John Kruk. Any coincidence that The Best Damn Sports Show picked him up and later ESPN? Fuck no.

Maybe the star-making responsibilities were too much for me and navigating Marshall Street too much for Mr. Hoock. The emails stopped but something better, more epic, grandiose has taken it's place: The Blogspot revolution will be seen at this site and:

http://gimmeyourbestshot.blogspot.com/

The intial offering from Dan is as follows:

So here's two questions to get us started. 1) Let's say somehow you are stranded on a desert island. Let's also say you have pretty much every luxury available to you, within reason of course , but use your imagination (Beers, BBQ, sporting equipment, preferably good-looking females, aged 18-25), BUT........there is obviously no radio signal on an island in the middle of nowhere and you were only able to take 3 CDs onto the island with you. What would they be?

2) In each of the four major sports, who has been the best clutch/go-to athlete of our television watching generation (90's-'05)?

I'm going to let this epic leadoff offering marinate while I go to the Distillery and watch the Spurs and Nuggets.