Monday, June 29, 2009

Quickies

The infomercial world lost its king over the weekend. Pitchman Billy Mays was found dead by his wife Sunday morning. The AP story via Yahoo is here. I recently told several friends I was considering being Mays for Halloween this year and I was already working up some imitation Mays pitches for products such as the human ass and beer. So, maybe I jinxed him.

Tomorrow (June 30) sees the release of the first season of HBO's East Bound and Down on DVD. For those of you who haven't seen the show, its storyline revolves around a former baseball phenom, Kenny Powers, who hits rock bottom and ends up back in his North Carolina hometown as a subsitute P.E. teacher. Powers is played by Danny McBride and series executive Will Farrell makes cameos as Ashley Schaeffer, the owner of the town's BMW dealership. I'm not a huge Will Farrell fan, but he is pretty funny as Schaeffer while wearing a Ric Flair-like wig. The show is probably one of the more poilitically incorrect TV shows made in recent years. The HBO short documentary on the making of the series can be seen here.

Finally, Freddie King's "Going Down" is used as the theme song for East Bound and Down. Here is King performing the song live.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Friday Frolics, Volume 19: More Jones Big A**......

Back in April, "J.D." told me about the Jones Good A** BBQ and Foot Massage spot on Youtube and I quickly used it as a Friday Frolics post. Now, I think it's time to revisit the Jones line of products.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

David Brinkley and D.C. Weather

The weather forecast for this weekend looks like the typical D.C. summer forecast...hazy, hot and humid. We've finally turned the corner from a rainy spring that would make a tropical rainforest native feel at home to the summer weather most D.C. residents expect.

One year at Jazz Fest, a New Orleans cabbie asked my friends and I where we were from. When we told him we were from D.C., he quipped "I bet you boys ain't used to heat and humidity like this". I tried to tell him it could get just as hot and humid here, albeit it only for a couple of months. After all, our Nation's Capital was built on a swamp. But, the cabbie would have no part of what I was saying.

I've often heard folks who live in the D.C. area say there really isn't a spring season here. Somehow, the weather seems to always go from chilly and wet to hot and humid, with not many "pretty spring days" in between. I know this sounds like a sweeping generalization, but I do remember seeing something years ago on TV that seems to support this belief.

Not too long after I got out of college, I was nursing a Sunday morning hangover and watching This Week With David Brinkley. I vividly remember David Brinkley's end of broadcast commentary that morning. Someone (I don't remember who) had just published a study on the best and worst U.S. cities for weather as it affected lifestyle. Somehow it didn't suprise me when Mr. Brinkley passed on the the nugget that Washington, D.C. was the worst weather city in the country. The study had a rather narrow criteria, the annual number of days when the sky was sunny and the temperature was in the 70's. According to the study, D.C. averaged 10 such days per year. Every spring, I somehow remember that snipet from This Week and I try to count how many sunny and 70s days we've had. I never seem to get past five.

Midweek Time Killers...D.C. Music

A few years back, a few writers at The Washington City Paper compiled this piece which surveyed 40 D.C. music scene insiders as to what pieces of local music were their favorites. My favorite quote from the piece is:

“I’m sure you’ll get a lot of votes for ‘Da Butt,’ and I do think ‘Da Butt’ is a f*cking great song. There’s no way around that,” says Mark Noone, lead singer for the Slickee Boys, who ultimately chooses the Slickees’ own 1983 single, “When I Go to the Beach.” “Not just because I wrote it,” he says. “I just think it turned into kind of a D.C. anthem.”

For those of you who haven't seen the Slickee Boys video for "When I Go to the Beach", you now have no excuses.....

Monday, June 22, 2009

Quickies

First off, Variety reports in this story that Columbia Pictures is scrapping the movie version of Michael Lewis' book Moneyball. The movie was to have starred Brad Pitt as Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane. The A's have a history of fielding competitive teams on a small budgets thanks to Beane's use of statistical analysis which allows the A's find productive young players who do not yet command outrageous contracts.

According to this Yahoo Sports piece, Chicago Cubs manager Lou Pinella doesn't "know a steroid from a reefer". FYI Lou, a reefer is a refrigerated rail car used for shipping food and perishables.

And speaking of Lou Pinella, here is a TV station flashback to 1992 when Pinella was the manager of the Cicinniati Reds and he got into a tussle with then Reds relief pitcher, and now Washington Nationals color analyst, Rob Dibble.

Finally, I've done my share of Dan Snyder bashing here on Shedd's Spot and I believe he has deserved every bit of it and more. In an entry back in March, I mentioned how I had received mailings from the Redskins for a couple of years telling me I had risen to the top of the 200,000+ person season ticket waiting list. Everyone in D.C. with half a brain knows the length of that list is a bigger lie than anything that's ever come out of Marion Barry's mouth. Well, this April snipet in The Washington City Paper further proves it.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Friday Frolics, Volume 18: The Arlington Rap

The link to this video was emailed to me this time last week by my friend and Shedd's Spot regular reader, Sam. Since then, it's been emailed to me at least half a dozen more times and five of my Facebook friends have posted on Facebook. I was told by another friend the video even got some play on the local NBC affiliate's evening news telecast. So, needless to say, it's caused quite a stir among those who live in Arlington now and those who grew up there.

Personally, I think the video is hilarious because it makes fun of one of Arlington's biggest problems, the self absorbed twenty and thirty something residents and all the "upscale" businesses they support. Within the first couple of days of watching this, I witnessed four people pushing elevator buttons that were already lit and saw more brown flip fops than I could count. Some of my friends who live in L.A., lower Arlington, were quick to point out that it appears as if the video was shot completely in north Arlington along the Wilson Blvd. corridor and that lower Arlington, and its residents, shouldn't be lumped in with generalizations about other half of the county. That may be true for now, but a change is coming.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Midweek Time Killers...The One and Only Blelvis

This week, the belated Mid-Week Time Killers post consists of just two items and they both are about Blelvis. The first is Eddie Dean's 1998 Washington City Paper profile of Blelvis. The second is Monica Hesse's article on Blelvis that appeared in The Washington Post in 2007, on the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death.

If you went out in dowtown D.C. in the late 80s or 90s, you may have run across Blelvis on a street corner or performing in a bar like D.C. Space. At the time Eddie Dean piece was written, Blelvis was down on his luck. The Post piece, written nine years later, doesn't focus as much on the Blevis' hard times.

Years ago, my cousin and I had a bunch guys we grew up with over one Sunday to watch football. One of the guys, let's call him "R.B.", was quite the Elvis fan, could sing a little himself and was also African-American. That Sunday, "R.B." told me with great pride how he and his boys had run into Blelvis downtown the night before and how Bleivis given "R.B." the great pleasure of singing a few songs with him. After singing a few Elvis numbers, "R.B." suggested they do a song by "R.B."'s all-time favorite singer, Sam Cooke. But, Blelvis would have no part of it and he left "R.B." to sing the Sam Cooke number on his own. Obviously Blelvis is a man of convictions.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Quickies

This week's Quickies post will be real quick...

First up this week, talk of porn star Stormy Daniels making a run for the Senate in 2010 has not subsided. According to this London Times piece from last month and this Politico blog entry from last week, Daniels has taken part in a "listening tour" around Louisiana as a first step toward a possible run. Luckily for Daniels, she just turned thirty so the minimum age requirement for the Senate won't be an issue.

And following up on this morning's entry on Thom Loverro's criticism of Rob Dibble, in which I discussed what might have been John Lownstein's greatest moment as a broadcaster, I give you this link to a blog entry by someone named the Urban Shocker that discusses what may have been Brother Lo's finest moment as player. In this time of controversy about how steroids have inflated baseball statistics, the following Lowenstein quote seems to put things in perspective:

Nuclear war would render all baseball statistics meaningless.

Thom Loverro Hates Rob Dibble

Columnist Thom Loverrro has this column in today's Washington Times which is very critical of MASN's Washington Nationals telecast color commentator, Rob Dibble. Loverro's primary criticsm of Dibble is that Dibble is uninformed, especially when it comes to the Nationals pitching staff. This differs from other writers who have criticized Dibble for being too much of a homer, particularly when it comes to his use of "us" and "we" and encouraging words like "let's get two and get out of this" and "atta boy". Of course, as Loverro points out his column, Dibble's fan-like mentality has won over many Nationals fans.

For me personally, the jury is still out on Dibble as a commentator. I will readily admit I wasn't very enthused when I read during the offseason that he had been hired by MASN. And, during the first few weeks of the season I thought his criticism of rookie starting pitchers Sharon Martis and Jordan Zimmermann was a little too harsh. But, I will say Dibble's enthusiasm during the broadcasts is an improvement of the dull delivery of Don Sutton who seemed to talk about his playing days during game broadcasts as much, or more, than Dibble.

Speaking for myself, and I'm sure many longtime D.C. area residents will agree, the best local baseball television announcing team I've ever heard is Mel Proctor and John Lowenstein. They kept fans entertained and interested as they blended just the right mix of baseball knowledge and levity on Home Team Sports Orioles broadcasts from the mid-80s until the mid 90s . No one who saw it will ever forget the spring training game broadcast when Lowenstein yelled out the back window of the broadcast booth for the hot dog vendor on the ground outside the stadium to send two hot dogs up to the broadcast booth. Cameras stayed on the vendor as he bewilderdly looked around to see who was trying to get his attention. If I remember correctly, Lowenstein got his hot dogs a couple of innings later.

But, back to present and the Nationals. My friend and fellow blogger, Tadcranky, has a theory about the Nationals inability to sign upper level free agents. Tadcranky's theory is that as long as the Nationals appear as if they are going be awful the following year, no upper level free agent is going to sign with them. A premiere player is going to get the same the amount of money to play for a contender, or at least a team that will flirt with .500. So, why would the free agent sign with a team that may lose 100 games? I think the same theory holds true for broadcasters. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of studio analyst and color commentator jobs associated with Major League Baseball. So, why would a top tier TV analyst sign on to follow a losing team with a new and questionable fan base for the length of 162 game season?

Friday, June 12, 2009

Friday Frolics, Volume 17: Bruno

The man gave us who gave us Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen, is back with a movie by one of his other characters, Bruno. The movie opens July 10th. You can see several of Bruno's "finest" moments at this COED Magazine link. (Thanks to "J.D." in Richmond for providing the link.)

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

More Midweek Time Killers..."Don't Tase Me, Sonny" and Fishing in the Gulf

Remember when a University of Florida student was tased at a speech given by John Kerry a couple of years back and famously yelled "Don't tase me, bro"? Well, I'm thinking the recent tasing of a Texas grandmother is even more of a classic. I know that sounds awful, but after you watch the following news story from an Austin TV station, that includes police dash cam footage, I think you'll agree.



And of course, you have to love the fisherman who caught a live air to air missile in the Gulf of Mexico. Read about that here.

Midweek Time Killers...More Freakin' Baseball

As expected, the Washington Nationals selected San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg with the first overall pick in last night's first round of the baseball draft. As soon as the pick was made, all the so called "experts" began to chime in on when and if Strasburg will sign, how much money will the contract be worth and when Strasburg will make his Major League debut. I could post links to dozen of articles and columns on those questions, but I'm already sick of hearing the speculation. My breaking point came this morning when I heard Steve Phillips predict on ESPN radio the Nationals will not come to terms with Strasburg and that Strasburg will sit out a year and then re-enter the draft next year. With all that said, I did find this Monday pre-draft piece from the Nationals' website on Ben McDonald, which included his thoughts on Strasburg, very interesting. Many of you will remember back 20 years ago when Big Ben was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the first round of the draft. Many thought he would be the cornerstone of the Orioles starting rotation for years to come. Unfortunately for both McDonald and the Orioles, things didn't work out that way.

Meanwhile up I-95 a piece, Raul Ibanez had this to say in The Philadelphia Inquirer about accusations by bloggers that he is using performance enhancing drugs:

You can have my urine, my hair, my blood, my stool - anything you can test," Ibanez said. "I'll give you back every dime I've ever made" if the test is positive.
"I'll put that up against the jobs of anyone who writes this stuff," he said. "Make them accountable. There should be more credibility than some 42-year-old blogger typing in his mother's basement. It demeans everything you've done with one stroke of the pen.


I haven't accused Ibanez of using PEDs, I don't live in my mom's basement and I'm not 42 (yet), so I guess I'm in the clear when it comes to Ibanez's wrath. Of course, he is batting something like .500 against the Nationals this year and has something like 85 HRs against them in 2009. Hmmm....maybe that's the reason for his improved stats at age 37...he's playing the Nationals 18 times a year????? You can read the entire Philadelphia Inquirer article here.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Quickies

First off, baseball fans in Japan are doing their best to keep manager Bobby Valentine from losing his job. The New York Times details the saga here. Maybe if Baltimore Orioles fans would have done something similar for Davey Johnson, the Orioles would not have sunk to the level they have.

I'm to the point where I can't have a Quickies post that doesn't mention my beloved Washington Nationals. This weeks Sports Illustrated includes this story on Bryce Harper, the 16 year old high school phenom, who is considering dropping out of high school and getting a GED so he can be eligble for next year's baseball draft. Seeing the Nationals are once again on their way to the worst record in baseball, they could very well be in a position where they have to make a decision on whether Harper should be selected with the first overall pick in the draft. Of course, The Washington Times' Thom Loverro is convinced the Nationals' problems can be blamed on The Curse of Teddy Roosevelt. Maybe he is onto something. After all, Teddy was out to a commanding lead during the presidents race on the Saturday of Memorial Day only to lose when the Oriole bird jumped from the stands and leveled him with a tackle that would make Ray Lewis proud. Thus, another loss for Teddy.

Regular readers will remember a post a while back that included info sent in by "J.D." on the Grand View Topless Coffee Shop in Vassalboro, Maine. "J.D." forwarded me this piece last week detailing the destruction of the Grand View due to arson. "J.D." blamed the arson on a right wing conspiracy, while a few readers who left comments on the newspaper website blamed it on feminists. I guess we'll know it was a conspiracy if any Cowgirls Expresso locations are burned to the ground.

Friday, June 5, 2009

I Hope Stephen Strasburg Doesn't Like Calamari

I was perusing The Washington Times sports section this morning when I came accross this article on the presumed number one pick in Tuesday's baseball draft, Stephen Strasburg. As I stated in a post a few days back, some folks think Strasburg, with his 100+ MPH fastball, will be the Nationals' saviour. The Times article tells how San Diego State baseball coach Tony Gywnn has limited Strasburg's innings in an attempt to not damage Strasburg's arm prior to him beginning his professional career.

One thing the online version of the article does not include is the sidebar from the print edition which details the struggles (to put it nicely) of the pitchers who have been drafted with one of the top five picks in recent drafts. Everyone know the struggles Mark Prior and Kerry Wood have had with arm injuries. But lesser known are the travails of Matt Anderson, the overall number one pick in the 1997 draft. Anderson injured his arm, but not on the pitching mound. I'll use this direct quote from Wikipedia to describe Anderson's situation:

Anderson holds the dubious distinction of being the only player to injure himself in an octopus throwing contest. During a Detroit Red Wings game at the Joe Louis Arena, Anderson participated in an octopus throwing contest in an effort to win Red Wings playoff tickets and tore a muscle in the armpit of his throwing arm as a result. After returning from the injury, he was unable to hit 90 mph on his fastball in his remaining days in Detroit, after regularly topping 100 mph on the radar gun, including a high mark of 103 mph twice.

After reading about Anderson, I decided the Nationals should put a clause in Strasburg's contract prohibiting him from being within 500 feet of any nautical creatures, dead or alive, especially squid or octopus. So, I hope Strasburg doesn't calamri.

Friday Frolics, Volume 16: Redd Foxx Delivering Beer

For some reason, the memory of this commercial popped into my head the other day. I vividly remember it from when I was a kid. I do think the person who posted this video on Youtube said it best when he/she said:

I'm just wondering why Redd is driving at such a high rate of speed, in the snow with a six-pack of malt liquor to deliver to a guy sitting in a chair?!? But then, maybe I'm putting way too much thought into this scenario??!! It IS a completely unique experience!!

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Midweek Time Killers

There is no theme to this week's Time Killer post. Instead, there is a choice of items that are some of the recurring themes here on Shedd's Spot, music, sports and life in and around the Nation's Capital.

First off, Dave Alvin recently released "Dave Alvin and the Guilty Women". You may recall from a prior post, that Alvin felt he couldn't record and tour with his former band, the Guilty Men, after the death of Alvin friend and bandmate Chris Gaffney. Alvin talks about that and the new CD in this Country Standard Time article. Alvin and Guilty Women play the Birchmere on July 25th.

It's been a little over four years since the voice of Baltimore sports, Chuck Thompson, passed away. In this NPR audio essay from 2005, Frank Deford remembers Thompson.

Finally, in yet another Washington City Paper flashback, Catherine Alter details how hard a time men in D.C. had meeting women in her 1996 article "Bitch Hunt". I wonder if 13 years have changed matters any?

Monday, June 1, 2009

Quickies

On this day in 1925 (June 1st), Lou Gehrig played the first game in his 2130 game consecutive game streak. Of course, that record streak was broken by Cal Ripken, Jr. in 1995.

While listening to "Cowboy" Jack Clement's Saturday show on XM radio, I learned Louis Armstrong once released a country LP. The record, released in 1970, was produced by Clement. A review of Louis "Country and Western" Armstrong is here and an article about the record by Charles Wolfe from the Oxford American is here.

Finally, "J.D." sent the link to this Sporscenter item detailing the travails of former NBA player Corie Blount. (Maybe I should give "J.D." his own regular column on Shedd's Spot.)