vivalaultra

As far as I can tell, they fall into the category (they meaning The Doves, but also Keane) of "nice and inoffensive". Kind of like...air (not the wonderful electro-pop duo).

I stood front row at The Doves when they were at Austin City Limits last year. I had never heard of them before. The only reason I stood there was because The Arcade Fire was playing directly after them (actually an hour later. Standing in the 100 degree Texas heat with a bunch of fat hipsters...) and I wanted to be up front for their crazy good live show. I also remember that both Keane and Coldplay where playing at ACL as well. However, I never saw the members of any of the bands at the same place at the same time... The plot thickens...

Anybody get into those reggae cover albums that have been coming out recently? Some of those have some actual quality stuff on it, discounting the kitsch factor. There's this Pink Floyd one, Dub Side of the Moon that's actually quite good. There's another Bobby Dylan one that's pretty good, too, but not as good as the Pink Floyd one.

My Mom's five favorite Journey songs: 1. "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" 2. "Any Way You Want It" 3. "Open Arms" 4. "Seperate Ways" 5. "Wheel in the Sky" My five favorite Journey songs: 1. "Open Arms" 2. "Don't Stop Believing" 3. "Faithfully" 4. Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" 5. "Why Can't This Night Go On Forever?"

But today's his birthday. You can't complain about a man on his birthday. Here's to you and your toothpick, Dusty!

B-Rad with the clutch job. He's more clutch than Abreu, Dunn, and A-Rod put together.

So, Prior's officially comin' back, eh? I heard rumors of it...Maybe he'll make more than two starts before going back on the DL. Now all you need is Wade Miller to come back, even though I guarantee that he will never pitch an inning in a Cubs uniform. Too bad, too. He was money when he was with the Astros, but he had bad mechanics that just ate up his arm. And, from what I've heard, he hasn't changed his mechanics any. Too bad. In any event, I'm really looking forward to today's all-Venezuala pitching matchup almost as much as I was looking forward to yesterday's Johnson & Johnson matchup.

Fuck Screech. He tried to charge people $15 to come see him do an hour of shitty stand-up comedy at my university last year. Even Chuck D. spoke for free. I'd pay $15 to see Chuck D. Screech can go to Hell. He was on Saved by the Bell for about 25 years, he should've saved his money. Maybe he could go back and sneak in and live on the set. That would be neat if they still had his old robot on there. They could be friends again. Fuck Screech.

I like the bombast of Buckley's "Hallelujah". His vocals in the song are fuckin' ridiculous. Great stuff. I also like John Cale's. But, yeah, Leonard Cohen's version is terrible. What the Hell was he thinking with those electro-drums and backup vocalists and stuff? Sheryl Crow's done some pretty shitty covers, namely "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "The First Cut is the Deepest", not that the latter was a very good song to begin with. Sheryl Crow used to give me boners too when I was in high school...back when she was only 47 or so...now she's gotta be at least 70 years old.

No S at the end, dumbas. Pfft. That was rude and uncalled for...jackas.

And the 'Stros hang on to win their 3rd in a row. They've won 7 of their last 8. However, this is only their 2nd series win on the road, but, we're definently 'playing the game the right way'. Huzzah!

Thank God for Jacques Jones (Don't act like you don't know the name...) and his lack of plate discipline.

I've agreed with most of the other Bowie covers being better than Bowie originals, but I just can't agree with that. I do like the Wallflowers version, however...but Bowie's version is great. I also like the Arcade Fire's live version of "Five Years" better than Bowie's, but I don't think that's available to the general public, but it was good when they did it in concert.

Yeah, I was watching the game when the announcers were talking about how he's hitting below .200 with RISP, but I thought it was a misleading stat...mainly due to his being pitched around and the low sample size. But, like the announcers were also saying, when he goes up to bat, the fielders could just go take a break or something. He's either gonna strike out, walk, or get a massive homerun. Also, I must say, that was an unexpectedly well pitched game from Villeneuva and Ramirez.

Isn't he still hitting below .200 with RISP, though? However, he's obviously more clutch than A-Rod.

A haiku: Numbness in fingers Puts Chris Reitsma on DL Braves fans are happy. I just thought of that right now. Pretty good, eh?

I have another one. I vastly prefer Jeff Buckley's version of "Hallelujah" over Leonard Cohen's electronic drum version from the mid 80s. And I have a special affinity for NOFX's version of Minor Threat's "Straight Edge".

The Astros won again. 9-2. Chris Burke is a friggin' machine. Something like 4-4 with a BB and 5 runs scored. He hit a homerun, too. Unfortunately, there's a chance that his shoulder could dislocate at any given time. It looks like for the foreseeable future Willy Taveras is going to be a pinch runner/late inning defensive guy. Andy Pettitte finally had a good start. I'm glad the 'Stros are playing well, but I'm worried for a couple weeks from now when the whole team goes into a slump.

With the way the Astros have been swinging the bats this season, 3-0 is quite the shellacking. Our offense has been offensive.

Wrigley Field is ridiculous. One of the oldest fields in baseball. The announcers hype the fact that they're traditional with no big screen or digital scoreboard or such. The big between inning activity is slip and sliding in the urinals in the men's room and yet, they now have a Motorola digital bullpen phone. Add to the irony that the bullpen is about five feet from the dugout. Dusty could stand up on the steps and yell to get a pitcher ready. And the Astros are shellacking the Cubbies. 3rd inning. 3-0. Bases loaded no outs. Isn't Michael Barrett supposed to be suspended? Is he getting leniency because he hit AJ Pierzynski...and nobody likes Pierzynski?

Yeah, I was being ironic. It's weird that obviously Cincy's in the race, as of yet, so it seems like the FO would be going after quality arms that would help the bullpen, as opposed to getting guys who haven't ever done anything anywhere.

Shit, you're complaining about your bullpen and you got all this great talent coming in to shore things up...Esteban Yan...Joe Mays.

I was just looking at the Reds bullpen. When the Hell did the Reds pick up Joe Mays?

I don't know much about Cincy's bullpen, but I thought it was...better than Ok, at least. I mean, you got Coffey, Mercker, and Weathers (who, I think, is decently above average, but shouldn't be closing under any circumstances), and some decent talent in the minors, namely Ryan Wagner and Mike Burns (I was upset that Houston just out and out dropped him.). And I think the best trade bet of the three catchers would be LaRue, as he's too good of a defender to be a backup catcher, and Valentine isn't going to get much in return. As far as trades for Dunn, I know for a fact that he would love to come to Houston and Houston would probably love to have him-strikeouts and all, but I doubt an inter-division trade would happen. And who woulda thought, at the beginning of the season, that the two biggest Cy Young candidates would be Brandon Webb and Bronson Arroyo?

I can see that I'm in the minority on the Big Star/VU deal...which isn't unexpected. I can see why more people like the Velvet Underground's version, I just really, really hate Nico's voice, but I like her solo CD, oddly enough. I'm a walkin' contradiction!