Josh Hancock, relief pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, was killed this morning in an auto accident. Picked up by the Cardinals last year, he was a solid addition in the bullpen. Tonight's game against the Cubs naturally has been postponed. We here at Pandering to Savages extend our thoughts and prayers to his family and the Cardinal organization.
Cardinals Mourn Passing of Hancock
I've been a little busy with deadlines, so let's put PtS on cruise control tonight and enjoy some D. Plenty of goodness, including how awesome black holes are, will be forthcoming. Have a great night, fooligans.
(Portrait of the artist as a stoned man)
There's one for you, 19 for me.
Well folks, the accountants over at PtS are wracking their collective heads of knuckle to figure where we went wrong this year. It turns out we're paying the amount we thought we were getting back. So yeah, that sucks. But at least I know I'm doing my part to fund all our successful and efficiently-run programs, both domestic and international.
Fuck.
Nothing like a spur-of-the-moment trip to see The Shins to get this week started right. You see, The Shins hail from here in Albuquerque, but they haven't come back to play in over four years. So after a string of European dates, I guess they figured, "What the heck, let's go back to Albuquerque and rock that town silly."
And rock it silly they did. They played in a small club called the El Rey, and tickets sold out QUICK. I was unable to procure any as I found out about the concert too late, but last night, my friend asked if I wanted to go downtown and try our luck at getting tickets. They had released 45 tickets that night, but were unable to get any of those. We ended up buying some from a scalper for a slight increase, but it would soon be well worth it, although in my rush to get out of the house I forgot my camera, so all I could do is take crappy phone pictures. Forgive me.
I won't bore you with the openers, but The Shins effing rocked. They sounded tight, loud, and overall just plain awesome. And they appeared to be happy to be back in town, constantly thanking us for coming out and telling fun little anecdotes, like James Mercer saying, "This is a song I wrote about four blocks from here," and then breaking into "New Slang." It changed my life. Glee.
They also played a very cool cover of "Breathe" by Pink Floyd, a rocked out version of "So Says I," and turned "Caring Is Creepy" into a slow ballad, which all sounded great. Overall, they played for close to 90 minutes with a great mix of all three of their albums. My one complaint is that there wasn't enough dancing. Oh sure, there was the emo kid head bob, but where was the jumping and flailing about? Meh, it just made me look that much cooler. Amazing concert, that's all I can say. Why aren't The Shins ruling the world with their poppy goodness right now? Oh well.
Next up is TV on the Radio back-to-back, along with a soon-to-be-drunk-and-mischief-filled weekend in Atlanta, washed down with a chaser of some great music, both live and blared through the speakers at the residence of one Austin Louis Ray. Have a great weekend, fooligans.
Check out this tasty slate of concerts and envy me. ENVY ME!!!
April 10 - The Shins - Albuquerque, NM (post to come)
April 12 - TV on the Radio - Athens, GA
April 13 - TV on the Radio - Atlanta, GA
April 15 - Neko Case - Albuquerque, NM
...I just hope my eardrums can keep up.
Before I post something a little longer and more meaningful, I forgot to post this a ways back and I feel like a little pat on the back after getting hit in the head with a softball today. A power cable redirected a pop up and hit me square between the eyes. Now I have a nice little swollen cut between my eyes, but I'm treating it with some pre-birthday drinking and playing of the Wii.
But where was I? Oh yeah, 783 million on a single trick in Tony Hawk 3. I made that game my bitch. In case you were curious. You probably weren't. That's okay. Rock.
I've been a Looney Tunes kick of late, so I thought we'd watch one together. Sound fun? Awesome.
One thing I've always loved and respected about Looney Tunes is the fact they use a full orchestra to score their cartoons, from the sound effects to the music itself, which could often work as the only auditory components of the cartoon (Roadrunner & Coyote, anyone?).
Yes, the animators drew some of the greatest slapstick - and just plain animation - ever to grace the screen, but look at their names: Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies. Music played a HUGE role in these cartoons, as they had full access to the huge sound library Warner Brothers had to offer and took full advantage, from movie sound effects to current popular songs. But that's not to say they ever forgot their musical roots, as evidenced by this cartoon below, The Rabbit of Seville. Great, great cartoon, plain and simple.
You know what? Enough talk, just enjoy the damn cartoon. I have too much love to give for Looney Tunes and their importance on my comedic upbrining, so I'll just let the cartoon do the talking.
When I heard the Cubs were reportedly for sale, I called the Chicago Tribune and gave them my offer (above). They ended up being sold to Sam Zell as part of a larger acquisition of the Tribune Company, but my offer still stands. Although I do think I'm overpaying.
