Bones is BACK

Another one of my favorites returned tonight. This is a really good show. The characters and relationships get deeper at the right pace, and it has got some nice quirky value adds every week. Procedurals have never been this fun.

Rangers LOSE

The game was tied in the 3rd when Rachunek gave it away in front of the net. The Rangers were never able to tie it up. Costly. The Rangers are now under .500 at home and 2 points out of a playoff spot. The chances of a youth for crappy veteran trade have increased exponentially tonight.

Knick PLAY LIKE DOGS AND LOSE

The Knicks played a completely pathetic second half, and Isiah is not exempt from criticism. For some reason Thomas decided to start 3 guards in the second half, and it completely destroyed any rhythm the Knicks starters have. Curry had a great first quarter, then was awful. Lee and Jefferies took a bunch of shots they couldn't hit. Steph didn't have his good legs tonight... Just an awful loss. And it's tough not seeing the kids developing. Gerald Wallace went off all night, and Thomas wouldn't put Balkman on him. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.

Knicks DOWN 2 at the Half, Rangers SCORELESS after 1

Knicks need to keep Curry involved. Pock is playing for the Rangers.

Rangers Tonight

At home agains the Maple Leafs, 7:30 pm. C'mon Rangers, 3 in a row! Rozsival may be out, so Pock better be active, even if Rozsival can play, they have to bench someone to get Pock out there.

Knicks Tonight

at Charlotte, 7pm. Charlotte has been a tough match up for the Knicks, cause they play disruptive D. Never the less, the Knicks have to win this one and get some momentum going.

House is BACK

Having wrapped up the rogue cop arc, House is back on the air tonight after a few weeks off, and House is once again unbound and at his quirky best. It's an intense episode and I'm thrilled that my favorite show is back on track.

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Amazing SpiderMan #25 by Steve Ditko. Behold J. Jonah Jameson in the original "Spider Slayer." What started out as a goofy machine got more and more sophisticated in its later iterations throughout the series. Still a very dynamic, life or death cover from Master Ditko.

Knicks WIN!!!!!!!!!

Curry was more on his game and played regular minutes tonight. Closer than it should have been with no Kobe, but it's a win and we will take it. Here's the boxscore. Lots of rebounds but not nearly enough assists.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270130018&refresh=30

Knicks UP 2 at the Half

The game is on tape delay out here and is just about to start. UGH.

Knicks GameNight

Ugh, QRich is out with a bad back, so Zeke is starting Jefferies again. Lee has a hammy but will go in his 6th man role. They'd be better off starting Balkman over Jefferies cause he's just flat out better. Oh well, Go Knicks!

Knicks Tonight

at home against the Lakers, 7:30 pm est. Kobe Bryant is suspended for this game. If the Knicks feel like playing for 48 minutes they can possibly win.

The Rangers WIN!!!!!!

The Rangers woke up a little and absolutely crushed the Bruins in Boston tonght, 6-1. Petr Prucha had a break out game with 2 goals and an assist. Ortmeyer was going wild and had 3 assists including the creation of a short handed opportunity for Cullen (1 goal, 2 assists), who cashed it. Shanny scored on a penalty shot. Roszival scored off the Prucha pass, and Nylander ended a power play skid by forcing one in down low (this is not the order of the goals, just as I'm remembering them).

Pock was once again a healthy scratch, which doesn't make sense.

Rangers Tonight

at Boston, 7pm. As the trade deadline approaches, it's important that the Rangers win games, especially against teams like the Bruins. It's not that a good trade wouldn't help, it's just that the Rangers don't know how to make them, and would no doubt end up dealing Prucha for another 40 year old or something...

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Some Girls (1978) The Rolling Stones. Faced with disco on one side and cutting edge punk/new wave on the other, the Stones reasserted their relevance with this `78 gem. Man, you could hear Miss You all over NYC all summer long. Beast of Burden, Shattered and Before They Make Me Run, all rocked. This album was a little leaner than Black and Blue and Love You Live, which came immediately before Girls, this disc showed the Stones could still compete.

Cool Guy Flick Alert

Rolling Thunder (American International, 1977) Directed by John Flynn and starring William Devane and Tommy Lee Jones. This was one of three movies that Paul Schrader wrote in the mid-70's that essentially have the same plot. The other two are Hardcore and Taxi Driver. Anyway, in this one, a Vietnamese POW returns home, only to find more Hell: his family is mudered and his hand is destroyed in a robbery. The only thing he really has left that he can call his own is REVENGE. He recruits his old subordinate, Tommy Lee Jones, and derned if they don't get it. A very, very cool movie. Devane has been a terrifically underrated actor.

January Film Festival

The Godfather (Paramount, 1972) Directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duvall and Marlon Brando as the Godfather. A different director, yet another masterpiece. This is one of the great American films, and the script, the direction, the performances, the music, the casting and the cinematography are all unforgettable. It's homerun, and Coppola savvily cast noir veterans Sterling Hayden and Richard Conte to further contextualize the Godfather in the crime flick genre. Everyone is so familiar with this movie there's not much I can add, except to say, that in Hollywood, people say that when there's trouble on the set, the movies in trouble. The great exception to that rule is the Godfather. It was a nightmare to get produced, especially for FFC who was reportedly either fired or was quitting every couple of weeks. We are incredibly lucky he stayed on and saw it through.

Just a note: do to scheduling, the January Film Festival, will be continuing into February.

Knicks LOSE

In what was apparently an ugly game, the Knicks lost by 2 in Milwaukee today. They are most likely not gonna make the playoffs with efforts like this one. Lee and Balkman were outstanding and Craw rallied late, but they still lost. Curry was back but only played 28 minutes, so we have to wonder if he's healthy. Not good. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270128015

More Giants

The Giants have apparently hired Chris Palmer to be their new quarterbacks coach. His job will be to keep Eli's mechanics, which have broken down in the second halves of each of the last two seasons, sound throughout the season. Palmer had previously worked for the Cowboys, where he was NOT responsible for Tony Romo's development. That was handled by David Lee, who is now at Arkansas as an OC. In fact, you have to wade through a lot of failure to find Palmer's last success with a young QB, and that was with Drew Bledsoe in 1996. Well, let's hope this definitive retread is ready to help.

Knicks Today

At Bucks, 3:30 pm est - but don't try looking for it then, ABC is blocking the broadcast till 6pm est. Curry may be back. We need to win this one.

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

Dr. Strange #180, by Gene Colon. Another excellent use of the collage style Steranko and Kirby were pioneering. This was not really Dr. Strange #180, it was Strange Tales retitles when Nick Fury, Agent of Shield got his own book. This happened around the same time that Tales of Suspense became Captain America, and Tales to Astonish became The Hulk.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

The Harder They Come (Mango, 1972) Jimmy Cliff and others. This was the sound track to the movie of the same name, and provided a hell of an intro to Reggae for millions of people. The theme song is a classice and so are Many Rivers To Cross by Jimmy, and Pressure Drop by Toots and the Maytalls, one of the immortal Reggae bands. Check it out if you haven't, you can get it at Amazon.

Rangers WIN!

The Rangers won 2-1 on goals by Jagr ( a tip of Rachunek's blast) and Krog - of all people. Girardi took one penalty and may have made an error when he was getting off the ice at one point late. No goals resulted from his mistakes and he looked fine.

Rangers Today

at Philly, 1 pm est. Okay, we may get to see some real idiocy today: the Rangers have called up Girardi, an all-star D from the AHL. That's all fine and good, but in practice the player he has replaced has been Thomas Pock. Yup, our best defender may end up sitting for our newest defender, when the idea should be to have them both out there and sit one of the older stiffs like Malik, Rachunek and Rozsival. Here's hoping they don't scratch Pock for another piece of the solution.

Jamal Crawford DESTROYS the Heat!

52 points and he surely would have broken the Knicks record had it been a more competitive game and he had stayed in. Lee, Frye, Starbury and Balkman were also impressive. But tonight was all about the Craw! Cue Get Smart! memories.http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270126018

Knicks up 16 at the HALF

Team ball, ladies! Marbury has ten dimes, Craw has twenty points and Lee already has nine boards! Everyone has contributed! Keep it up, Knicks!

Knicks GameNight

Curry is out, so you know what they do? They start James at C, Q at the 3 and move Crawford back in at the 2. What does David Lee have to do to start?

Knicks Tonight

Home against the Heat, 7:30 pm est. Marbury is supposed to be back, but Curry is apparently out.

Yanks Make a Curious Move

The Yanks have apparently taken Matt DeSalvo off of their 40 man roster to make room for perennial roster problem Miguel Cairo. That's right, they have dumped a once promising young pitcher for a scrubby vet. Now, DeSalvo did have a bad season in `06, but he was going through a messy divorce. What he had done before `06 justified bringing him back. This seems especially troubling because Kevin Reese, who has all the upside of a 6th outfielder is still on the 40 man roster. This is a risky move, especially if DeSalvo gets claimed and reverts to his former level of performance.

Knicks LOSE and LOSE Curry.

Eddy Curry left the game in the second half with a calf muscle strain. With he and Marbury out the Knicks were sort of easy pickin's for the Suns. Frye was in foul trouble all night and couldn't pick up any slack. Lee had his customary double double, and Craw had one, too. Here's the boxscore.http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270124018

Knicks DOWN 3 at the Half

Curry had 21 points by early in the 2nd quarter and then they stopped getting the ball to him. They had a ten point lead, now they're down three. See the connection?

Knicks GameNight

Uh-boy... here goes! C'mon, Knicks! Shock the World!

Rangers Dump Kaspar

Well, it's a start. I'm not sure he's the worst veteran defender on the team, in fact, I'm pretty sure he isn't, but it's a start. Now replace him with a call-up.

Knicks Tonight

Home against the Suns, 7:30 pm est. Marbury is out and this could get really ugly. The Suns are on a 14 game winning streak... Can I get a group "Yikes!" from Knick fans?

Favorite Comic Book Covers!

The Demon #1 by Jack Kirby. This basically completes our look at his DC sojourn. The Demon was sort of a cross between the Hulk and Thor, in that it featured a man who turns into a form of monster(Hulk) but this time with the otherworldly connection (Thor). It was a pretty cool book, and I believe the Demon has since been revived in the DC Universe. Just goes to show, Kirby was still creating useful characters well past his silver age peak.

Knicks LOSE

They tried to come back, but they lost Marbury at half time, and then couldn't get the ball to Curry in the crucial third. I'm gonna spare everyone the boxscore and just home Steph gets better soon!

Knicks DOWN 15 at the Half

But it could have been much, much, much worse! They gave up a 27-0 run early in the first and were down 40-12 after 1! They took the punch and are hanging in there. I think we could still win!

Knicks GameKnight

Big break: No Shaq and no Wade for the Heat tonight. We have to win this game! C'mon, Knicks!!!!!

NYC Sounds of the Seventies

While the New York Dolls, then the Ramones, and then Blondie, Television, The Heartbreakers and The Talking Heads, were punkin' and rockin' my home town, a bunch of more mature singer-songwriters, were making pop, some critically reviled at the time, that has stood the test of time and in and perhaps by doing so, has removed the false stigma that was attached for a time to the singer-songwriters of the `70's. Here are three that were from New York, who made some great pop.

Paul Simon didn't really suffer any critical slings and arrows when he dumped Art Garfunkel for a dream of his own. On Paul Simon, There Goes Rhymin' Simon and Still Crazy After All These Years, Simon made great, fun, witty and well-observed pop. Von Dropula would refer to this stuff as a creamy delight, were he to give it another listen. Songs like Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard, Mother and Child Reunion, Loves Me Like a Rock, Kodachrome, 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover, and Still Crazy After All These Years have really stood the test of time, and like the other stuff I'll talk about, are a comfort food for the people of NYC.

Billy Joel was not immune from massive criticism, but has emerged in retrospect as Long Island's answer to Elton John. Joel wrote really singable, often Beatles, Spector or 4 Seasons-esque songs. Working with Paul Simon's producer Phil Ramone, Joel's stuff was always really nicely produced and featured a lot of the best session musicians in NYC. Billy had had a hit with Piano Man early then disappeared for awhile while he had managerial and other problems. But he started getting airplay again with songs like Captain Jack and The Entertainer and by 1975 he was ready to make a solid album which he did: Turnstiles, he followed that up in 1977 with The Stranger, and off he went to the races. Just the Way You Are was overplayed, but songs like The Angry Young Man, Say Goodbye to Hollywood, Miami, 2017, James, Movin' Out, Only the Good Die Young, and Scenes From an Italian Restaurant have rightfully gone on.

I think Carly Simon got a bad rap. First off, she was a stone cold fox. I'm serious, she was a really, really beautiful woman and her album covers were sort of events. There are surprisingly few `70's era pictures of her on the internet, which frankly sucks. Nonetheless, she was often critically picked on for her music: they'd say they didn't like her voice or they didn't like what she was singing about, and a few of them even tried to say she wasn't good looking (I was actually reading a bio of her on the net wher they had to toss in that "she isn't a classic beauty." I really wonder about some of the distinctions people will try to make)! Of course, critics had a problem when You're So Vain hit because no one could deny it was a transcendant and brilliant pop song. It also proved she had a rhyming dictionary a few years before Elvis Costello did (yacht/gavot!). Her stuff was generally produced by Richard Perry (both Perry and Carly get mentioned in Reunion's Life is a Rock But the Radio Rolled Me and dammit, that's cred right there!) who, along with Phil Ramone, is one of the great pop producers, and a lot of her songs were like soul tunes in the form they took.

Anyway, there was a sophisticated pop sound in NYC in the `70's and these three were a part of it. If you feel like giving it another listen, I'd be behind the move.

Steve Spagnuolo is the New Giant DC

He has been an Eagle assistant since `99 at both DB and LB - just where we have our biggest problems. I love this move and it brings the Giant offseason record to 2-2 in my eyes. I think we've seen the last of Osi and Strahan in coverage! Go Spags!

Knicks Tonight

at Miami, 7:30 pm est. Tough match up, but beat `em anyway, Knicks!

Parcells Retires!

And his doing so now could screw the Giants - again. Here's why: it's conceivable that the Cowboys will either buy out Charlie Weis or pay the comp to get Bill Belichick right now. This could explain Scott Pioli's odd about face on the Giant job two weeks ago. Could he and Belchick be headed to Dallas? They have a young D that Belichick would appreciate. Of course, they also have Jerry Jones. We'll see. Best case scenario for the Giants is that Dallas goes off the Parcells tree and hires someone like Bob Stoops.

My Greatest 100 (or so) Albums...

Imperial Bedroom (Columbia, 1982) Elvis Costello. This was the one where Elvis teamed with old Beatle engineer Geoff Emerick and really scared some critics. It's a brilliant piece of pop music and one of Elvis's greatest achievements, and he's made a career of great achievements. Here's the rundown:

All songs written by Elvis Costello unless otherwise indicated.
"Beyond Belief" – 2:34
"Tears Before Bedtime" – 3:02
"Shabby Doll" – 4:48
"The Long Honeymoon" – 4:15
"Man Out of Time" – 5:26
"Almost Blue" – 2:50
"...And in Every Home" – 3:23
"The Loved Ones" – 2:48
"Human Hands" – 2:43
"Kid About It" – 2:45
"Little Savage" – 2:37
"Boy with a Problem" (Costello, Chris Difford) – 2:12
"Pidgin English" – 3:58
"You Little Fool" – 3:11
"Town Cryer" – 4:16

Bonus tracks (1994 Rykodisc)
"From Head to Toe" (Smokey Robinson) – 2:34 produced by Elvis Costello
"The World of Broken Hearts" (Mort Shuman, Doc Pomus) – 3:01 produced by Elvis Costello
"Night Time" (Patrick Chambers) – 2:52 produced by Elvis Costello
"Really Mystified" (Tony Crane, John Gustafson) – 2:03 produced by Elvis Costello
"I Turn Around" – 2:09 produced by Elvis Costello
"Seconds of Pleasure" (Version 2 of The Invisible Man) – 3:43 produced by Elvis Costello
"The Stamping Ground" – 3:09 produced by Elvis Costello
"Shabby Doll" (Early version) – 4:18 produced by Elvis Costello
"Imperial Bedroom" – 2:47 produced by Elvis Costello

[edit] Bonus disc (2002 Rhino)
"The Land of Give and Take" (Early version of Beyond Belief) – 3:05
"Tears Before Bedtime" (Alternate version) – 3:03
"Man Out of Time" (Alternate version) – 3:43
"Human Hands" (Early version) – 2:44
"Kid About It" (Alternate version) – 3:18
"Little Savage" (Alternate version) – 3:07
"You Little Fool" (Alternate version) – 2:59
"Town Cryer" (Fast version) – 2:15
"Little Goody Two Shoes" (Alternate version) – 3:10
"The Town Where Time Stood Still" (Alternate version) – 2:57
"...And in Every Home" (Rehearsal) – 3:12
"I Turn Around" – 2:09
"From Head to Toe" (Robinson]) – 2:34
"The World of Broken Hearts" (Shuman, Pomus) – 3:01
"Night Time" (Chambers) – 2:52
"Really Mystified" (Crane, Gustafson) – 2:03
"The Stamping Ground" – 3:09
"Shabby Doll" (Demo version) – 4:18
"Man Out of Time" (Demo version) – 3:27
"You Little Fool" (Demo version) – 3:11
"Town Cryer" (Demo version) – 3:03
"Seconds of Pleasure" (Demo version) – 3:19
"Imperial Bedroom" – 2:47

If you don't own it, it's time to. Order through Amazon!

Knicks WIN!!!!!!!!

Starbury had a gutsy game with a bad knee, and Frye and Curry were in foul trouble most of the night, but the Knicks held on and won! Yeah Knicks!!!!!!!!!! Here's the boxscore: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=270120011