The Outfield is Eating Andre Dawson

Prep for the Oscars or Play Russian Roullete?

2009-01-13T21:55:00.004-05:00

Gotta love Chuck Lorre, the mad genius behind the hit CBS comedies "The Big Bang Theory" and "Two and a Half Men". For those of you not familiar with Mr. Lorre or his shows, he always runs title cards at the end of every episode of scripted TV that he produces. They are only on the screen for 2, maybe 3 seconds max and usually take the aid of a DVR in order to read what is written. Usually they are funny, sometimes controversial (and censored by the network), and always opinionated. No exception this week as the title card from "The Big Bang Theory" had the wife and I rolling.

Before you read, be forewarned that there are many spoilers for Oscar-buzz movies to be found within:

CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #235
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION(spoiler alert)

It's that time of the year when movie studios seeking Oscar nominations for their films start asking for my consideration. Every trade ad and mailing begins with the words, "For your consideration." It's kind of a Hollywood tradition. Anyway, this is what I've considered so far: Milk (a well-meaning gay guy is shot to death by a homophobe), Doubt (A really mean nun accuses a really terrific priest of being a pedophile), Revolutionary Road (a married couple fight a lot, cheat on each other, then the wife bleeds to death following a botched abortion), Slumdog Millionaire (incredibly poor kids subjected to unthinkable evil, but with a happy ending), Defiance (starving Jews fight Nazis in the woods), The Wrestler (a broken-down, over-the-hill wrestler on steroids has a tough life), Changeling (a woman's son is abducted and the police put her in an insane asylum), Gran Torino (a dying widower commits suicide to help his neighbor), Benjamin Button (a guy grows old in reverse and then dies), Rachel Getting Married (a drug addict kills her baby brother and then pisses off her family during a wedding), and The Reader (Nazi atrocities, under-age sex and illiteracy prove to be a lethal combo). So, what am I considering? Well, for a moment or two I actually considered hanging myself. But then I thought, if I do that, the movies win.

1st Aired: 12 January 2009

There you go - I couldn't have summed it up better myself. If you wish to read more, click here to go to Lorre's website.

Something New

2009-01-12T11:08:00.004-05:00

Yeah, I know - it's been three months - 3 MONTHS! - and no phone call, no email - what, we can't even post anything to let you know that we are alive? What's the matter with us?

Well, it's called life and, for my part of the story, a new little baby girl that was introduced to the world on 12/30. As she slept today, I came across something that I absolutely had to post about. It's called the Black Cab Sessions (www.blackcabsessions.com). The premise is quite straightforward and simple. A London cabbie (hence black cab and not the typical yellow cab found here in the States) drives around the grand old city while his famous passengers play acoustic versions of their song(s). What a wonderful intimate window into the music that we love with great scenery to boot.

Here is how the site describes itself: "THE SESSIONS ARE ALL ABOUT GREAT MUSIC AND THE VENUE STRIPS THIS TO ITS ESSENCE. WE AREN'T PICKY ABOUT GENRE AND WILL HAPPILY OPEN THE CAB DOOR TO ANYONE WHO BLOWS US AWAY."

And blown away I was. Especially by some of my favorite artists like Bon Iver, Ryan Adams, and My Morning Jacket. Do yourself a favor a check the site out here.

Who's Watching the Watchmen Already?

2008-10-16T23:46:00.003-04:00

If you're like me, you're eagerly anticipating next March's release of Watchmen, the Zack Snyder-directed film adaptation of the seminal graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. No matter what the movie turns out to be like, you can bet the entire Interweb will crash for at least 48 hours from the sheer volume of "It's awesome and perfect"/"Zack Snyder raped my childhood!" sniping sure to result. Me, I'm hopeful, and the tone of the trailer attached to The Dark Knight this summer encouraged me in my hope. It remains to be seen whether a story so tied to mid-eighties Cold War tension will be any kind of success with the young moviegoing public of today, but hey, as long as it's coming out, right?

Anyway, there have been a great series of articles written in recent days by Daniel Manu and Zach Oat over at Television Without Pity's new "Movies Without Pity" section, focusing on a recent screening of sample footage. Spoilers abound, of course, so tread with caution (only those familiar with the book will be truly safe from plot spoilers).

First, they describe the footage in detail. Then, they give us Q&A transcripts with director Zack Snyder and co-creator Dave Gibbons, before finally getting together to discuss their feelings about what they saw at the screening.

Sure, it's five months away, but I'm getting pretty geeked-up already.

You've Got to See This

2008-09-27T07:57:00.002-04:00

I received an email from my buddy John yesterday with a link to the first video show below. This clip is from the dream match up of Morgan State/Winston Salem State football game last week (I know some of you deadbeats out there lost cash on this game!) After I saw the clip, I was impressed but not as impressed as a couple of other catches that I had seen in the past so I thought I would post a montage of a couple of my favorites. Watch them and tell us in comments which one impresses you the most.

Morgan State's Edwin Baptiste

WWU's Chris Moore

Alabama's Tyrone Prothro

Too Funny

2008-09-27T07:51:00.003-04:00

Every once in a while, you actually get a forwarded email that is truly funny. Amid the chain letters, emails filled with supposedly cute pictures of cats/dogs/pets, and the same old jokes and pictures that were funny the first five or six times that I received them from someone, came this little gem from my buddy Scott. Enjoy.

Lawyers should never ask a Mississippi grandma a question if they aren't prepared for the answer.

In a trial, a Southern small-town prosecuting attorney called his first witness, a grandmotherly, elderly woman to the stand. He approached her and asked, 'Mrs. Jones, do you know me?'

She responded, 'Why, yes, I do know you, Mr. Williams I've known you since you were a boy, and frankly, you've been a big disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, and you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you're a big shot when you haven't the brains to realize you'll never amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you.'

The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the room and asked, 'Mrs. Jones, do you know the defense attorney?'

She again replied, 'Why yes, I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster . He's lazy, bigoted, and he has a drinking problem.. He can't build a normal relationship with anyone, and his law practice is one of the worst in the entire state. Not to mention he cheated on his wife with three different women. One of them was your wife. Yes, I know him.'

The defense attorney nearly died.

The judge asked both counselors to approach the bench and, in a very quiet voice, said, 'If either of you idiots asks her if she knows me, I'll send you both to the electric chair.'

Someday We'll Go All the Way!

2008-09-20T13:31:00.004-04:00

Okay, here it is at last. This actually made my cry.

Now that's a song I can drink an Old Style to. If you want a copy, just let me know!!!

Once, Upon a Time, I could control myself...

2008-09-19T06:42:00.004-04:00

So this morning I was greeted with this story:

Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder pens Cubs song
Tribune report
11:24 PM CDT, September 18, 2008

Chicago radio stations and sports bars have begun spinning "All the Way," a Cubs-themed ditty written by Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder at the request of Cubs legend Ernie Banks, Billboard.com reports.

The track features lines like "Our heroes wear pinstripes / pinstripes in blue / give us a chance to feel like heroes too." It was recorded last month during Cubs fan Vedder's solo concert at Auditorium Theatre, according to Billboard.com.

The song will be available for downloading in the next few days, according to Pearl Jam's Web site, and may also be sold on CD and "souvenir 45 singles."

Do you believe in miracles? While we've known for a while that EdVed was a die hard Cubbies fan, it looks like he's put his talent where his heart is and blessed us with a new tune. Will this make "Go Cubs Go" irrelevant? I don't know, but I am champing at the bit to hear this song!!!

If I didn't have to go to work today, I would hunt this down. Stay tuned folks - I'll do my best to have this posted soon if it's out there on the web!!!

It's No-No Time!

2008-09-15T00:36:00.002-04:00

Well, we'll be darned! One of our favorite Cubbies, the inimitable "Big Z," has thrown his first no-hitter--and the team's first since Milt Pappas did it in 1972.

Watch highlights here.

There's so much weird about this, from Zambrano coming off inflamation and rotator cuff tendonitis to the game's odd scheduling and locale (thanks to Hurricane Ike, Sunday was game 1 of a Houston home series, but held in Milwaukee). But one thing's for sure: it's cause for celebration here at the Outfield!

It's Geek Time

2008-09-07T22:23:00.002-04:00

So we here at The Outfield will be heading to Columbus OH at the first of October for the Mid Ohio Comic Con. What geeks, huh? Just thought I would offer up a little comic goodness in anticipation of what's to come. This piece is from superstar artist Adam Hughes who was extremely cool and friendly when I met him back at MOC 2004. Plus, who doesn't love Han Solo?

More Palin Goodness

2008-09-07T21:59:00.001-04:00

Okay, this is funny. Stick around until the end.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

What a Jaded Past!

2008-09-01T16:48:00.004-04:00

After watching most of the major speeches from the Democratic National Convention last week, I was all pumped up to write a blog piece about my feelings. Then came John McCain's pick of Alaskan governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. Now some of you may think it's great that he picked a lady, some may question her credentials, some may love her status as Tina Fey's long lost twin, but all of us - ALL OF US - have to love the fact that she used to do local sports for some small Alaskan television station.

And here is the proof (once again, ANYTHING you can think of will make it to Youtube eventually). The setting was spring of 1988 and a young Sarah Palin (nee Heath) has a mane of hair that could only be built with the dreaded Rave and Aquanet combo. Somewhere, the boys from Motley Crue are envious of her hair. Enjoy!

He completes us

2008-08-30T12:49:00.003-04:00

The fine folks at The Daily Show are at it again. This week's Democratic National Convention coverage peaked with this take on the obligatory biographical video of Barack Obama:

Can't wait to see what they have on tap for McCain next week.

Kobe...Comic Geek???

2008-08-21T23:29:00.006-04:00

Be careful ladies, an encounter with Kobe Bryant in the past might have ended with non consensual anal sex, but today you might just have to listen to him talk comics.

Who saw this coming?

From our friends at Comic Book Resources.com:

"For the past two weeks, people from around the world have been watching with intense interest the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the ultimate sports competition. One group of athletes that have been watched with particular excitement not just in the U.S. but across the globe has been America’s men’s basketball team. Dubbed the “Redeem Team,” the players are hoping to capture the gold after a disappointing and embarrassing bronze medal finish in the 2004 Olympics games in Athens. Featuring NBA stars like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Jason Kidd, the team remains unbeaten thus far.

Preparing for Olympic competition requires ceaseless practice and training, and for one Team USA member, that preparation included passing the time on the 13-hour flight to Beijing with a handful of graphic novels.

Taio Iwado was closing up shop at Lee’s Comics a couple of weeks back -- his last day on the job at the San Mateo, California store -- when a knock came at the door. We’ll let Iwado tell the story from there.

"I looked up and saw a man in a suit with a silver mustache and military cut tapping at the glass. I continued to count dimes as I politely said, "I'm sorry, sir, we closed at 8:00pm and it's already 8:30."

He then smiled back at me and stepped aside to say, "Well... Would you open up for him?"
There he was, standing in all of his 81-Points-in-one-game glory, wearing his blue and red NBA-approved sweat suit. The dimes fell from my hand onto the counter like copper and tin rain as I gasped out a meager, "Kobe!"

Kobe, his one-man entourage and bodyguard all snickered unsurprised at my reaction as I fumbled around the counter to open the door. As I took out my keys I heard Kobe's friend say, "That's one way to get them to open up."

I opened the door and shook the hands of the three men as they entered the store and said, "Welcome to Lee's Comics, how can I help you?" I must have been working on some sort of autonomous shock setting as I spoke with Kobe, stunned that he was in San Mateo and in Lee's Comics asking him, "So what kind of stuff are you into?"

Kobe happily replied, "I'm into that dark shit. I've got a 13-hour flight to China and need something good to read." Immediately I recommended my favorite author Garth Ennis and “Preacher” to him, explaining the intricacies of the faithless Reverend Custer, his assassin girlfriend Tulip, best-friend/Irish Vampire Cassidy, and his quest to make God pay for abandoning humanity. Kobe's eyes lit up as I told him the tale of Jesse and the reasons why Preacher would change his view on comics forever.

He chuckled, saying, "My Man!" and giving me a high-five and taking the first two "Preacher" volumes. I also helped him track down the latest volume of “100 Bullets,” of which he is an avid fan, as well as “The Dark Knight Strikes Again,” “Across the Universe: DC Universe Stories of Alan Moore,” “Batman vs. Two-Face” and “Batman: The Joker's Last Laugh.” Quite the list of well-written stories (all of which can be found at Lee's Comics).

Kobe was nothing but a gentleman and was completely down-to-earth with this simple clerk as we joked about checking for his ID as he paid with his credit card. I once again shook hands with Kobe and his compatriots as they left the store, asking to pose for a picture before he left for Olympic glory. Kobe shook my hand again giving me a pat on the back saying, "Thanks again, my man." As he got into his black Escalade with his bodyguard and NBA cohort, I felt I had accomplished all I could for the world of comics by turning Kobe Bryant onto the works of Garth Ennis and keeping him entertained as he flew into the maw of the Great Red Dragon to represent our country.

Special thanks to Taio Iwado and Lee Hester for allowing CBR to share this story with Kobe Bryant fans, Olympics fans, DC Comics fans and Garth Ennis fans all around the world.

Gotta love the Cincinnaughty Bungles!

2008-08-21T23:25:00.003-04:00

From Deadspin.com:

" When complaining on the message boards isn't enough: The fans of the Cincinnati Bengals have spoken...with signage. This billboard was spotted just off of I-75, perhaps so Henry could see it himself as he drives away by in a stolen/borrowed rental car. "

And there is really not much more that I can add. Seriously. Carson "White Bread" Palmer has got to be steamed right now. And poor Marvin Lewis! Didn't anyone explain the ineptitude of the Brown family and their management "skills" before you took the head coaching job???

The Rule of 3

2008-08-21T17:43:00.008-04:00

If you've known me long enough, you have most assuredly heard me espouse on the rule of three, especially when it comes to celebrity deaths. When we lost Bernie Mac and Issac Hayes in the same weekend, I was simply waiting for the other shoe to drop. Sadly, it has. LeRoi Moore, saxophone player extraordinaire and member of the Dave Matthews Band, has passed away.

When Slick and I (along with our ladies) caught DMB a couple of weeks back, Moore was hospitalized and had been replaced on the tour by Bella Fleck's sax man. While he did a more than adequate job, Slick and I were both saddened by the fact that we missed out on a LeRoi performance. Little did we know that Moore would die some days later from the injuries he received in his ATV accident.

The tragedy here is that both Moore and Mac were still at the peak of their games. To compound matters, Slick and I never got to catch Bernie Mac doing his stand-up show - something we will always regret. Hayes, though older and having slowed down just a bit, still had much to offer as well.

We'll miss you guys.

Robots in Disguise

2008-08-21T17:35:00.004-04:00

So, my three year old has discovered the Transformers courtesy of going through my old toys in our garage. He found my old Shockwave toy which transforms into a purple gun who, surprisingly after 20 years, still works. (Side Note: After checking the prices this thing fetches on eBay, my son will only get to play with this thing until the auction closes. Then he will be "lost". Bwahahahahahaha!!!)

Anyhow, after trying to explain what Transformers were and why I liked them so much, I finally turned to You Tube to show the little fella the bad animation goodness that we all grew up on. To my pleasant surprise, I found this little gem.

Hooooo-boy. This...this is bad. You can thank me later.

Unsolved Mysteries

2008-08-20T22:27:00.004-04:00

One of our favorite authors around here in the Outfield is Brad Meltzer. The trailer for The Book of Lies, Meltzer's highly anticipated new novel has arrived and is making noise around the web because of its guest spots by Joss Whedon ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer", Serenity) and Damon Lindleoff ("LOST"). The book examines two great unsolved murder cases: Cain's murder of Abel in the Bible and the 1932 killing of Mitchell Siegel, a man whose son went on to create the world's greatest hero: Superman

Needless to say, I am pumped. The book arrives September 2, but you should check out the trailer right now.

Do-Over

2008-08-19T00:08:00.002-04:00

As those who read my Bonnaroo coverage are aware, Louisville's own My Morning Jacket turned in a legendary performance on the Friday night of the festival, and Joker and I missed a large chunk of it, creating really our only real regret of the weekend.

Well, that's been bugging me for two months, so I decided to take a do-over. The band's homecoming show at Louisville's Waterfront Park (which, by all accounts, was stellar) coincided with Saturday's STP concert to which we already had tickets, so I decided to get bold, and I went to the band's Friday-night show in Nashville (hometown of guitarist Carl Broemel), at their Riverfront Park. I could not be happier with that choice.

Frankly, I enjoyed the show so much I'm not sure Louisville would have been better. Due to the layout of the park, I had an ideal vantage point, not too far (near the soundboard) and with no obstruction of my view, thanks to the park's stair-stepped plateau formation. The music was incredible, the light show was fantastic, and the environment provided some of the best moments of all. The General Jackson riverboat cruised by behind the stage a couple of times, and the Tennessee Titans preseason NFL game right across the river offered up occasional touchdown-celebrating fireworks, and eventually, a long game-ending fireworks extravaganza, serendipitously exploding during the band's encore performance of "War Begun." On top of that, there was more brief excitement during that song as some obnoxious jackass decided to climb the scaffolding of the stage. Not a moment I'm soon to forget.

Wanna see it? Unsurprisingly, someone got it on YouTube by the next morning:

Crazy.

Hittin' the Wayback Machine...

2008-08-18T23:22:00.005-04:00

So, we here at the Outfield have been spending the summer enjoying lots of live music, as you know. But the month of August has been almost entirely dedicated to revisiting the music we loved in college (oh, those bygone years). On August 1, Joker and I (along with Mrs. Joker and my girlfriend) saw Dave Matthews Band (with Willie Nelson) at Louisville Slugger Field. It was a massive show with a huge crowd, possibly the event of the summer for Louisville, and we were down on the grass for the show--in the literal outfield.

This was the first Dave Matthews Band appearance in Louisville since 1995 (and that had been only a 45-minute set at Farm Aid), so it seemed ripe for a real rock-out with loads of memories. But it didn't really turn out that way. The show opened with long jams, the first three songs taking about a half-hour, and high energy really only kicked in (for me, at least) when the band performed a cover of Talking Heads' "Burning Down the House." Things were up and down for a while, with a performance of "Gravedigger" featuring Willie Nelson as a definite highlight, but the regular set ended strongly with late appearances by "#41," "Dancing Nancies" and "Ants Marching," plus a scorching cover of Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer." Still, I thought the show was lacking in the older, bigger hits, and went a little too strong on the jamming.

I know that's DMB's thing, and normally I wouldn't have a problem with it--if this were a concert at one of the venues they hit every summer. But this was a city were they hadn't played a full-length headlining show since becoming famous, so I'd think it would be expected that a large portion of the huge audience was fans who'd never seen the band before, not the traveling Daveheads that love setlist variety and long, trippy jams. So maybe it would have been a good idea to cater to the casual fans on this particular night. Just a thought from me.

Props, by the way, to my cousin CoCo and his crew (including his lovely wife, Ash) for navigating their way to the front rail, slightly to the side, just as DMB was starting to play. The girlfriend and I spent a little up-close time with the band thanks to them, and it was another great perspective on the show. All in all, we had a great time, but I wish the band had taken circumstances into account and thought about the many casual fans in attendance (some of whom I heard many complaints from in the subsequent week).

Eleven days later, the girlfriend and I checked out Smashing Pumpkins at the Louisville Palace, a much smaller venue for a much louder band. They're on a small-scale tour (few dates, tiny venues), and seemed to gear it for the diehard fans, with a setlist long on rarities and short on radio hits. Like Dave Matthews Band, they hadn't been to Louisville since their mid-nineties MTV heyday (1996, in fact--an arena show both Joker and I attended), so I think a lot of the attendees were expecting more classic material than they got, but I can kind of let this one slide where I didn't with DMB: since there were so many fewer available tickets, and publicity was pretty low (I ran into guys four days later wondering when the Smashing Pumpkins show was going to finally go on sale) outside the band's own website, there was probably a higher percentage of deep-catalogue fans at the theater show than at DMB's stadium gig. And the rarities they played rocked.

The only other real complaint here was the sound, which was mixed a little too heavy to the bass and drums, burying Billy Corgan's vocals at times, and almost eliminating the details of the guitar solos. It was loud, which was appropriate, but it wasn't quite clear. And my only real setlist complaint was the extended rendition of Pink Floyd's "Set Your Controls for the Heart of the Sun" (no, I'd never heard of it, either), which was about fifteen minutes of repetitive grinding, coming in wave after wave (which I'm sure would be ideal entertainment on certain controlled substances, but was exceedingly boring to the sober), followed by an interesting but not exciting feedback freakout conducted by Corgan and guitarist Jeff Schroeder. Beyond that, though? Excellent renditions of "Siva," "Today," "Tonight, Tonight," "Bullet With Butterfly Wings," "Mayonaise," and "The Beginning Is the End Is the Beginning" (the song made more famous recently by the Watchmen trailer), and a host of lesser-known songs like "Heavy Metal Machine" and "United States of America" that were blisteringly entertaining. And the encore was a kazoo jamboree of "We Only Come Out at Night" and Mungo Jerry's "In the Summertime!" On top of all that, ZZ Top (in town to play the state fair two days later) was in the house, and Billy Gibbons popped onstage for a quick wave as Corgan took his final bow. Weird.

Four days later, Joker and I reconvened, along with CoCo and Ash, to see Stone Temple Pilots across the river at Southern Indiana's Horseshoe Casino. There had been some concern lately, amid reports (and widely circulated video footage) of a late-July show in Phoenix where notorious relapser Scott Weiland was, uh, less than crisp onstage, that maybe the shows were going downhill and the tour was wiping out. But I'm happy to say that on Saturday night in Indiana, nothing could be further from the truth. Halfway through the first song, "Big Empty," it was clear we were getting Good Scott that night.

The band, without a new record to promote ("Yet," teased Weiland), ran through their history, with most of the biggest hits (really, only "Unglued" and "Pretty Penny" were missing, as far as radio/MTV hits go) and a few surprising rarities ("Lounge Fly," "Too Cool Queenie," "Silvergun Superman"). All four members--Weiland, Eric Kretz, and the Brothers DeLeo--were in top form, rocking out and even smiling from time to time. The stage was outfitted with a stellar light show and a stage-wide video wall, used not for band closeups, but for animation and film footage, often casting the band in silhouette as they played. We got to see Weiland's signature dance moves, his liberal usage of a bullhorn, and even a low-level climb of the stage scaffold during "Sex Type Thing." All told, it was a monster show.

In less than two weeks, we'll be taking in our beloved Counting Crows in Cincinnati, thus closing out College Retro Month here at the Outfield. Can't wait!

Say it Ain't so Joey Chestnut!

2008-08-17T17:28:00.005-04:00

You all know that I have an insatiable and overwhelmingly unhealthy love of the Krystal. For the uneducated masses out there, a Krystal is the southern version of the White Castle slider but not as greasy and with mustard. What sets Krystal above Whitey's in my opinion are the fries and the Krystal Chik (chicken) sandwiches. But I digress.

My hero, competitive eater extraordinaire and reigning two time Nathan's Famous Coney Island hot dog champion, Joey Chestnut is also the competitive Krystal eating champion. Not only did he dethrone the once impervious Kobyashi, but he loves some Krystal sliders. So how crestfallen was I when I came across this video? Oh my...

Still, you've got to hand it to this guy. I wouldn't have guessed he had the talent at first glance.

Links

2008-08-17T15:56:00.009-04:00

It is time for a bucket load of links, folks. Things have slowed down a little around here at the Outfield, but Slick and I promise to get back up on this horse and ride her hard now that the summer is beginning to dwindle down. Lots of things have gone down over the course of the last couple of weeks, but nothing has gotten more publicity than the all-might Michael Phelps.

Impressive? Yes? Bludgeoned to death by the media? You bet. That said, I promise to make this a Phelps free zone.

Today's links are brought to you today with a soundtrack. Or at least one song. Let's call it a soundtrack for the iTunes generation. One of my new favorite things to watch has been The Sundance Channel's "Live from Abbey Road" series that has taken a tremendous wealth of musical talent, given them the keys to perhaps the most legendary recording studio in the history of modern music, and produced intimate looks at these artists as they record. It's CD quality sound and is available in bee-you-ti-ful HD.

A treat for me is coming across a new band - usually British and where I might have been aware of their existence but not familiar with their sound or body of work – and walking away with a new appreciation for them or a couple of their songs. Today's sound track comes from one of my new finds, the British band Elbow. This is "Grounds for Divorce". Go ahead and give it a click and listen to it as you read the rest of this entry.

Now on to the links...

Kanye West might have earned some major wrath from Slick and I with his Bonnaroo antics, but from all accounts he redeemed himself with his set at Lollapalooza. And now this – Kanye is bringing Fatburger to Chicago. Hot Damn! Too bad it's still an 8-9 hour drive from where we live, but it's a start.
Cool news, good news, and bad news out of the Weezer camp. The cool news is that the boys have sent out an open casting call for fans to be in their next video for "Troublemaker". Too bad it's for LA area residents only. The good news is that they have FINALLY announced plans for their tour following months of patience and anticipation by us here at the Outfield. The bad news? They are - ONCE AGAIN – coming nowhere close to middle America. Oh there is a Chicago show on 10/02 and an Atlanta show on 10/25, but that's still a haul for Slick, E, and I who have still yet to catch the Weez live and in person. Of course, if any of you out there are feeling generous, I should point out that my and E's shared birthday just happens to be October 2^nd. I'm just saying. You know, tickets and hotel packages aren't too extravagant for a birthday gift and all.
Please tell me that you have been keeping up with the whole Rainn Wilson and Jenna Fischer kidnapping "story". As if I needed more incentive to go see Wilson's new movie The Rocker when it comes out this month (or to watch "The Office" when it returns this fall), Wilson takes a fresh new approach to word of mouth marketing and makes me happy. Long story short: Wilson has kidnapped Fischer, bound and stuffed her in the back of his Firebird, and will not release her until the movie grosses $18.7 million. Nice. Check out Free Jenna Now for all of the hilarious up to the minute developments as they happen.
Don't look now but our Cubbies have the best record in the National League and are only a win away from tying the Angels for the best record in baseball. Once again, no carts will be put before horses here at the Outfield, but c'mon boys – just once in my lifetime! Don't cement my loser-dom in the minds of my children! Don't make me ruin their lives with this century long beast as well!
Idolator has a wonderful entry about the horrible 1980's choices made by some of rock and roll's best musicians. Oh, the agony! For the record, even though I hate the video, I love "The Girl is Mine".
While you over there at Idolator, make sure you check out this discussion of the Alt-Rock classics that you secretly loathe or can't understand the appeal of to save your life. Me? I'll offer up most Radiohead after "The Bends", "Black Hole Sun" by Soundgarden, and the entire Sublime catalog.
ESPN.com offered up a report yesterday about PETA's favorite quarterback, Michael Vick, and his vanishing fortune. It appears that the money was going faster than MC Hammer's long before the term "rape stand" entered into our vernacular.
Looks like the Republican party is getting desperate. As Obama's lead in the polls surges, it looks like the GOP is willing to alienate the evangelical voters whom old Bushy rode twice to victory by toying with the idea of having a pro abortion rights VP candidate. But, as Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi so eloquently pointed out, McCain is doing a great job of that himself.

Pookie Haunts My Dreams

2008-08-02T00:31:00.002-04:00

Okay, first I have to admit that I found this link through the "Hater" blog at The Onion AV Club, so I claim no points on originality. But I had to share this with the Outfield Nation. No further intro necessary, just...just check
this out. Trust me.

Dave Grohl is a Rock God

2008-07-24T18:50:00.003-04:00

Well, the missus and I met up with Slick last night to catch the current Foo Fighters' "Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace" tour as it made a stop in nearby Indianapolis. It had been 8 long years since we caught Dave, Taylor, Nate, and Chris (at Rupp Arena during the tour with the Red Hot Chili Peppers). And man, what a long wait that was. Was it worth? HELL YES!!!

What a show. I am sure that Slick will have a nice little recap up on the blog here in a minute, but don't take our word for it - judge for yourself. Here is the video I shot of "Everlong". For those of you with inquisitive minds, we had seats at the end of the arena up from general admission. There was a main stage and a smaller stage nearer to us where the band did an acoustic set. The video starts with Dave on this stage at the end of the acoustic set.

Enjoy!!!

Links, Links, Links

2008-07-20T16:20:00.003-04:00

I've got to lead with The Dark Knight. Just how good can a movie be? Wow – I am truly speechless. It will take a couple of more viewings before I am sure, but my initial gut reaction is that Christopher Nolan's dark and intense second installment in the new Batman franchise should rank up there with my all time favorite – The Empire Strikes Back. And it seems America agrees to the tune of almost $160 million in the opening weekend. Who says movie ticket sales are down? It just proves the Joker thesis – give us crap, we don't show. Give us something we like, and you will be rewarded.

How cool is this? Believe it or not, but the Greatest American Hero is returning! Not as a TV show (even though seeing an aged William Kaat in spandex would be a hoot) but in comic book form. What took so long guys? We'll find out more at next weekend's San Diego Comic Con.

Hope you all did yourselves a favor and caught the debut of the new "Gong Show" on Comedy Central. All I needed to know was that they secured Dave Attell to host, but the "celebrity" panel of judges (Dave Navarro, Andy Dick, and JB Smoove) were icing on the cake. What you missed: A topless acrobatic babe and her evil ugly monkey, midget wrestling, a step show from the illegitimate sons of Rob and Fab, and Andy Dick's penis. For those of you interested, follow this link to see Andy Dick's flaccid surprise to the crew and audience – but be warned, it is definitely not safe for work (NSFW). Sadly, this is not the first time that Andy's tool has shown up on the internet but you pervs will just have to Google that for yourselves.

The Watchmen trailer has dropped. I am still reserving judgment.

If you missed the VH1 Rock Honors: The Who, click here to catch the performances from the comfort of your own computer. And yes, having Tenacious D cover "Squeeze Box" is indeed inspired.

If you caught the Rock Honors show, then you saw Rainn Wilson as the gay love child of Elton John and Tommy. Simply hilarious. So is the trailer for his new movie, The Rocker. E and I will need a baby sitter for this one.

Why, oh why, Stephen Page? If I had a million dollars, I would pay someone to create a time machine and get your butt to rehab before this went down.

And finally, news broke this week about the super secret "The Office" spinoff and, if true, we are pleased – very pleased. It seems that Ms. Will Arnett herself – Amy Poehler – is set to star. Let there be much rejoicing!

Free at Last, Free at Last

2008-07-14T14:49:00.006-04:00

Lord almighty, we are free at last. Free, college basketball fans, of the stranglehold of Bill Packer. Free from his assholeness. Free from his ACC bias. Free from his Dean Smith, Roy Williams, Coach K manlove. Free from his UK and U of L bashing.

Free, free, free!!!!

For those of you who actually like to read, you can find out more about it here.

I don't even mind that we will know by subjected to Clark Kellog instead - we are free of Billy Packer. That's like getting George Bush out of the White House!

Now if we could just find a way to get more Gus Johnson on the network: