Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Other Diversions (The Boss and a Cat)
First, the cat.
Are You Bucksperienced?, by Darby Conley. I mentioned the other Get Fuzzy book here recently. Conley's humor is usually hit, sometimes miss, and not wow! like those late-80s/early-90s classics "Calvin & Hobbes" and "Bloom County." What I love most about "Get Fuzzy" is Conley's drawings, which are so much sharper than anything else seen on the Republic's comics page. He's not so good drawing humans, but the animals are classic. You can read earlier strips and see how much cleaner the strip is now. Probably the comic strip I enjoy the most right now.
Live in New York City, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: One of the things baseball generally lacks in comparison to other sports is fan excitement of pitched intensity for an extended period of time. Richie Sexson's home run off the Jumbotron was an awesome moment, but nobody anticipated it, and the entire experience lasted, what, 20 seconds? Sure, there are tense rallies or Alex Cora at-bats or, well, Randy Johnson perfect games, but those are exceptions that just highlight how baseball differs from a football team running the two-minute drill or a basketball team scrapping its way back in front of the home crowd. I love baseball intellectually and with some of my heart, but there are moments on this live disc from Springsteen that I only get very rarely from baseball. "Land of Hope and Dreams" is an incredible song, one that would have -- should have -- been put on The Rising. That joyous crowd interaction on the songs makes it a great live album.
Baseball has its quieter joys, and occasionally its louder ones, but they are of a different nature from musical joys. Which is why I can't limit this blog to just baseball talk.
Are You Bucksperienced?, by Darby Conley. I mentioned the other Get Fuzzy book here recently. Conley's humor is usually hit, sometimes miss, and not wow! like those late-80s/early-90s classics "Calvin & Hobbes" and "Bloom County." What I love most about "Get Fuzzy" is Conley's drawings, which are so much sharper than anything else seen on the Republic's comics page. He's not so good drawing humans, but the animals are classic. You can read earlier strips and see how much cleaner the strip is now. Probably the comic strip I enjoy the most right now.
Live in New York City, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band: One of the things baseball generally lacks in comparison to other sports is fan excitement of pitched intensity for an extended period of time. Richie Sexson's home run off the Jumbotron was an awesome moment, but nobody anticipated it, and the entire experience lasted, what, 20 seconds? Sure, there are tense rallies or Alex Cora at-bats or, well, Randy Johnson perfect games, but those are exceptions that just highlight how baseball differs from a football team running the two-minute drill or a basketball team scrapping its way back in front of the home crowd. I love baseball intellectually and with some of my heart, but there are moments on this live disc from Springsteen that I only get very rarely from baseball. "Land of Hope and Dreams" is an incredible song, one that would have -- should have -- been put on The Rising. That joyous crowd interaction on the songs makes it a great live album.
Baseball has its quieter joys, and occasionally its louder ones, but they are of a different nature from musical joys. Which is why I can't limit this blog to just baseball talk.
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