And There Used To Be A Ball Park Where The Field Were Warm And Green


Seems to me we always look at life from the situation we are in. As a child I always figured we got the worst end of the stick. If you were a Mom you got a day, if you were a Dad you got a day, if you were a child you were told Money doesn't grow on trees. And God help you if you ever pointed out that actually it does. Then of course as I got older I learned what the adults always told me. Sure as an adult you get one day as a child you get 365 of them. It's August 23rd... your day. And it didn't need to be anything special to be your day either. Oh look suns out...IT'S MY DAY BITCHES! One of the many Frank Sinatra songs that I love is There Used To Be A Ball Park. In it's lyric Frank talks about how great the old team was and how much the new one sucks and about how nothing holds the same wonderment that everything used to hold. Now count me as one who thinks the ball park and the old and new team in the song is metaphorical, As a child Easter was great, 4th of July was great, Halloween was great, Christmas was great, Thanksgiving was a day off School and Football. One by one those days lose their luster. Easter is a day for bad TV, 4th of July was never the same for me after I saw the neighbors cat get spooked and run in the street and get killed as a child, I went out for a half an hour on Halloween when I was 12 said this sucks and went home never went out again, Thanksgiving meant a lot of food I didn't like...At least Christmas was still great. Now don't get me wrong I am happy. happier than I have been in years. Constantly happy. Bored but happy and boredom isn't really a the worst thing in the world. With all due respect to George Burns I have always said if I woke up 18 tomorrow I would commit suicide right then and there and believe me I would. But If Oprah wanted to make me 10 again maybe we could talk turkey. ah but then I would have to go through 14-20 again...fuck that shit.

Critics Seriously Why Do We Need Them?

Speaking of Frank Sinatra I have already mentioned I hate critics. Why do we have critics? seriously aren't we all critics? are we so fucking stupid or so lacking in belief of our own judgment that we need somebody to tell us whether we like something or not? Anyway Tomorrow Sinatra New York comes out and allmusic's Thom Jurek has his review posted for it already. He gives it ** 1/2 our of ***** That's not good. Now I happen to already know Thom Jurek is a fucking moron and you can google his name and see I am nowhere near alone in my assessment of him . So I take it back this is very good. to quote Jurek...

Only the hardest core Sinatra fan will really and truly be pleased with this set. For the rest of us, it's ultimately a letdown. One wonders why a performer who was so iconic -- and, for the majority of his career so exacting in the way he pushed himself to excel, need be represented with anything this uneven. No matter how well-intentioned, this effort falls considerably short of the mark.

Well shit Thom considering the set costs $79 suggested retail ( you can find it in the $50's but that is still a good chunk of change.) I am guessing that only the hardest core Sinatra fans will be buying this set. Thom is shocked that the material from the 50's sounds dated and also amazingly questions why more Live Sinatra CD's are being released.

The real question, given the overall uneven sound quality of this collection, and the fact that so much live material of Sinatra's exists already...

Given the fact that you are clearly a moron it's amazing that you were given the assignment of reviewing this box set. It doesn't matter how much live Sinatra has been released for fans there is never enough. Much of this has been released already for people who know how to find it. The Sinatra family is finally getting wise and making some $ off it themselves instead of just bitching about bootlegs. Here's what we learned from Jurek's review. A 4 CD 1 DVD Frank Sinatra Boxset with material ranging from 1955-1990, that costs $55 to $80 depending on where you buy it ( BTW don't pay $80) has varying sound quality, Sinatra's voice isn't as good on disk 4 as it is on disk 1, and only a hardcore Sinatra fan will really want it. Did we not know any of this before somebody actually paid Jurek to tell us? BTW not once does Jurek actually bother to critic the music in the boxset other than to point out Sinatra's voice in 1990 isn't that it was in 1955, 1963 or even 1974. Damn I would not have known with out you Thom. Reminds me of the idiots on Amazon who buy used casino cards then give a 1 star review because the cards are used. Or buy the James Bond Graphic novels and give 1 star reviews because they are graphic novels. Common sense is so lacking in the world right now.

I May Be A Skeptic But I Am Also Superstitious.

Given the fact I do not believe psychics, Nostradamus, Elvis is alive, or anything Early2it writes, even when I actually understand it, I am shockingly superstitious. I have listened to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass the night before Nebraska games since I did so in 2005 and Nebraska beat Iowa State 27-20 in double overtime. I don't eat Philly Cheese steaks before any of my teams play on game day. I've done this 3 times and my teams are 0-3. I've played a Bing Crosby CD the night of Irish tunes the night of Celtics playoff games and held cat collars while cheering them on to an NBA championship. I won't wear a blue shirt on Nebraska gameday and have asked the Contessa not to wear shirts the color blue as well. Have any of these superstitions been proven to scientifically improve my teams chances to win or have actually made a difference in the outcome? About as much as tests have scientifically proved that drinking Dr. Pepper slowly improves all 23 flavors. Still I am not tempting the fates. Listening to Lonely Bull may not have lick to due with Nebraska's performance the next day and they might very well win without me doing so but I ain't about to take that chance. Saturday I retired my #74 Nebraska jersey with "The count" written on the back after a two game losing streak that included that amazing Clusterfuck against Iowa State for a look I haven't gone with in years. The Dress shirt and Red Nebraska tie. Nebraska won but looked every bit as shitty as they've looked the 2 weeks previous. Do I go with the tie next week? Or bring the Jersey back? The Contessa likes the tie look so I'll prolly go with it again. Oklahoma will almost certainly win regardless of any of my superstitions but who knows? Maybe Casino Royale will work it's mystic powers.

There is one time I ignored superstition. In 2004 when I lived here and The Contessa in Missouri. She spent 7 weekends in the fall in Omaha including the one I proposed marriage. Nebraska was 5-7 in 2004. Guess which seven weekends they lost? And the weekend after I proposed marriage (on a Thursday) Nebraska lost to Texas Tech 70-10. But then I figured the bad luck then was having Bill Callahan for a head coach not her. Of course I think all of this serves one purpose It makes me feel as if I had something to do with outcome even though of course I had none.

Some Parting Questions

Why are conservatives who loved George W. Bush now complaining about spending and a lack of experience?

How Can Campbell Brown be married to Dan senor and have us believe No Bias No Bull? Ok maybe that one isn't fair but the question stands

Why was it rainy and cool to cold all October only see the first day of November bring us a sunny and 73 degree day?

Why is the game tonight Falcons and Saints?

Why is the networks bringing us the game employing a known sexual harasser to do play by play while trying to dig up dirt on the private lives of the coaches and players they cover?

While am I still typing?

Who Cares?

KTF

Stephen