George Michael

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/12/25/george-michael-dies-at-53-publicist-says/?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.3b6258563ecc

 

I certainly hope this will be the final entry in this category for 2016.

 

While he wasn’t one of my all-time favorites, he was definitely one of the biggest hitmakers of his day, and did produce some irresistable pop classics, especially in the earlier, more carefree days of his career.

 

Favorite songs:

Faith

Last Christmas

Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go

Everything She Wants

Careless Whisper

Comic of the Day #5 – December 23, 2016

Dilbert -- Texting The Boss

http://dilbert.com/strip/2016-12-23

Best Music of 2016

[NOW UPDATED with the results of the radio station polls in which I voted] 

Songs (AAA division) 

1. Off The Ground – The Record Company (#16 WXPN Top 100, #13 WTMD Top 89)
2. Dark Necessities – Red Hot Chili Peppers (#51 WXPN)
3. Adventure Of A Lifetime – Coldplay
4. Quiet Corners And Empty Spaces – The Jayhawks (#90 WXPN, #48 WTMD)
5. Don’t Know What It Means – Tedeschi Trucks Band
6.  (Baby) Hold On – The James Hunter Six
7. Cautionary Tale – Dylan LeBlanc (#66 WXPN)
8. Trailer – Mudcrutch (#93 WXPN)
9. Wristband – Paul Simon (#40 WXPN, #59 WTMD)
10. S.O.B. – Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
11. Smooth Sailin’ – Leon Bridges
12. Vaporize – Amos Lee (#21 WXPN)
13. Rita Mae Young – The Record Company (#9 WXPN, #40 WTMD)
14. Ain’t Nothin’ Wrong With That – The Marcus King Band (#17 WXPN, #14 WTMD)

Songs (other) 

1. Cake By The Ocean – DNCE
2. I Took A Pill In Ibiza – Mike Posner
3. Like I’m Gonna Lose You – Meghan Trainor
4. Me Myself & I – G-Eazy f/Bebe Rexha
5. This Is What You Came For – Calvin Harris f/Rihanna
6. Can’t Stop The Feeling – Justin Timberlake
7. In The Night – The Weeknd
8. One Dance – Drake
9. This Girl – Kungs & Cookin’ On 3 Burners 

Album cuts 

1. Comeback Kids – The Jayhawks (from Paging Mr. Proust)
2. Unintended Consequence Of Love – Bonnie Raitt (from Dig In Deep)
3. Live In The Moment – Teenage Fanclub (from Here) 

Albums 

1. Here – Teenage Fanclub
2. Hold On! – The James Hunter Six
3. Give It Back To You – The Record Company
4. Side Pony – Lake Street Dive (#6 mvyradio Top 25)
5. We’re All Gonna Die – Dawes (#11)
6. Kin – KT Tunstall
7. Delilah – Anderson East
8. Love On Your Side – Owen Danoff (EP)
9. Dig In Deep – Bonnie Raitt (#5)
10. The Things That We Are Made Of – Mary Chapin Carpenter
11. Stranger To Stranger – Paul Simon (#7)
12. Paging Mr. Proust – The Jayhawks
13. Little Windows – Teddy Thompson & Kelly Jones 

You (probably) haven’t been married often enough to be in Trump’s inner circle

The third time is apparently the charm.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/reliable-source/wp/2016/12/20/the-third-wives-club-what-these-trump-insiders-share-with-3-percent-of-america/?utm_term=.8466f484cd64

 

It’s not explicitly called out in the article, but in all except one of the cases listed, the latest wife was at least 10 years younger than the husband.

Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes, Rams Head On Stage, 12/15/2016

Table 102, Row A, Seats 2 & 4

 

Rams Head has a row of 4-person tables, each of which is right in front of the stage and perpendicular to it. Table 102 is just left of center; we had the rear two seats, which were just about as good as the ones we had for their show last December.

 

No real news here. Another great two hours of musical entertainment from the crew.

 

Highlights – killer start with “Every Day Will Be A Holiday”, the Stones’ “Happy” (with a touch of “Dancing In The Street” tossed in), “Don’t Waste My Time”, and “Love On The Wrong Side Of Town” … a crowd whistle-along to “Jingle Bells” at the end of “Talk To Me” (with him joking that “You won’t get anything like this at Bruce’s shows”) … more Christmas material than last year, including “Santa Claus Is Back In Town” (a new one for me), “Please Come Home For Christmas”, and a valiant attempt at “O Holy Night” … “I Don’t Want To Go Home” and the closing “Havin’ A Party” during the encores … classics “Walk Away Renee” and “The Fever” (of course), not to mention “Without Love” and “This Time It’s For Real” … enthusiastic crowd despite some empty seats (for the first of 3 area shows in 3 nights)

How Trump’s White House Could Mess With Government Data

The title is pretty much self-explanatory

 

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-trumps-white-house-could-mess-with-government-data/

Comic of the Day #4 – December 15, 2016

Non Sequitur – Weirdest Thing To Happen This Year

http://www.gocomics.com/nonsequitur/2016/12/15

Democrats search for a path back into rural America’s good graces

Great take by Dan Balz on the unfortunate outcome of this year’s presidential election. Quick takeaway:

 

“Democrats ought not to believe that their problems have been caused primarily by the actions of a foreign government. There’s too much other evidence that they have lost touch with parts of the electorate and will need to take stock as they begin to try to regain ground.

 

“As much as anything, the 2016 election highlighted the degree to which Democrats have lost favor among voters in rural and small-town America. Heading toward Election Day, Democrats dismissed the possibility that there were enough white, working-class voters in these nonurban areas to overcome their advantages with African Americans, Latinos, unmarried women and highly educated voters.

 

“The election proved them wrong.”

 

Meanwhile, Clinton and her campaign prefer to blame their loss entirely on the Russians, James Comey, the headwinds of a change-oriented electorate, etc., etc., rather than taking any responsibility for the weaknesses of their candidate and overall strategy. I admit to having had somewhat mixed feelings about the Trump nomination, feeling that he was one candidate that Hillary could actually beat. Not that I’m bitter or anything.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/democrats-search-for-a-path-back-into-rural-americas-good-graces/2016/12/10/8bc92fea-bef8-11e6-ae79-bec72d34f8c9_story.html?utm_term=.d203f26b030c

Mary Chapin Carpenter w/ Rose Cousins – The Birchmere, 12/7/2016

Table 125 – dead center, second row of tables in the raised rear section. (We had the number I82 and they started at I57, so were the 26^th group to get in.)

 

As was the case at Wolf Trap this summer, it’s good to see Mary Chapin Carpenter playing with a full band again. Longtime bandmate Don Dixon prowled the stage with his electric bass, while Jon Carroll and Johnny Duke impressed with their solo work (piano and guitar, respectively), especially on “I Feel Lucky” and “The Bug” near the end of the main set. (Drummer Nate Barnes was great throughout.) I was also delighted that they included “I Know You Know”, which is my favorite track from her latest album. She did change a few lyrics in light of recent events: “We doctor the receipt” (from my all-time favorite “Stones in the Road”) is now “We posted a tweet”, and a different “celebrity” (no longer a musician) has his hand on her thigh in “I Feel Lucky”.

 

Setlist

 

Rose Cousins started with a 45-minute opening set accompanying herself on guitar and piano, with mostly self-written material somewhat reminiscent of Mary Chapin in her more contemplative moments. (She joked with the audience at one point that doing happy, upbeat material was “not her job”.) I wasn’t terribly surprised when she mentioned that she was from Prince Edward Island, since her voice reminded me of fellow Canadian Kathleen Edwards. The north-of-the-border connection was further strengthened by her one cover, Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind”.

Two views of the Adam Eaton trade

Boswell’s take is classic:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/new-stats-hard-facts-nats-play-the-numbers-game-in-deal-for-adam-eaton/2016/12/07/840406cc-bccd-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html?utm_term=.e2f3a3802f36

 

And one from Eddie Matz of ESPN:

http://www.espn.com/blog/washington-nationals/post/_/id/2090/inside-bryce-harpers-wow-heard-round-the-world

Carrier

Most of “The Establishment” has reacted to PEOTUS Trump’s recent Carrier intervention with some combination of horror and disdain. However, two of the Post’s economic columnists whom I respect have a different take:

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/12/02/give-him-credit-trump-carrier-deal-puts-shareholder-obsessed-ceos-on-notice/?utm_term=.635b8d7e1f6c

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/when-bodyslamming-big-companies-is-good-for-america/2016/12/02/97800202-b735-11e6-b8df-600bd9d38a02_story.html?utm_term=.c7201a05a57e

Why I’m not sorry to see Harry Reid go

Headline from today’s Post: “Clinton and Biden get in on Reid’s Senate send-off: Festivities this week to mark Nevada Democrat’s decades of service”

 

Please forgive me if I don’t join in the hosannas. It’s hard to complain with a straight face about the recent election of a “post-truth” President while also celebrating one of the most bald-faced liars in the history of the U.S. Senate.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/09/15/harry-reid-lied-about-mitt-romneys-taxes-hes-still-not-sorry/?utm_term=.33d97ee8b5dc  

#133 I’m Still Standing – Elton John (1983)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHwVBirqD2s

 

Great song for these times.

Sharon Jones

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/sharon-jones-powerful-soul-singer-with-throwback-style-dies-at-60/2016/11/19/641b523a-ae71-11e6-8b45-f8e493f06fcd_story.html

 

By the time I got to the theater Saturday afternoon, I was pretty sure there was going to be bad news.

 

I was driving up to Germantown to meet some friends for a showing of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, listening to The Gamut on the radio. (Wonderful station – check it out on the Internet, or on 820 AM Frederick, 98.3 FM Reston, or 103.5 HD3 Washington if you’re lucky enough to be within listening range.) I was initially delighted to hear “100 Days, 100 Nights” by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings. The next song (which I didn’t recognize) also sounded like them, but I decided it was probably someone else, as even such eclectic stations as The Gamut rarely play two or more songs in a row by the same performer. That was followed, however, by Jones’s unmistakable cover version of “This Land Is Your Land”.

 

Bad sign – when stations that actually care about music do something like that (The Gamut actually played 6 Jones songs in a row), it generally means “tribute”, and I did know that she’d had a recurrence of the pancreatic cancer that had previously been in remission. Sure enough, after I arrived at the theater and finished typing her name into the Google search box on my phone, the dreaded “Trending” label appeared.

 

Although Jones left a legacy of several fine albums, her dynamic retro-soul persona was most compelling when experienced live. I was lucky enough to have seen her at the Lincoln Theater in February of 2014, one of the first shows I saw after my retirement the previous month. She joins an almost unbelievably long list of famous figures, musical and otherwise, that we’ve lost in the past week and a half – Leonard Cohen, Leon Russell, Robert Vaughan, Gwen Ifill, Mose Allison. (Apologies to any I missed.)

 

Favorite songs:

100 Days, 100 Nights

I Learned The Hard Way

This Land Is Your Land

Without A Heart

Stranger To My Happiness

Fearing Trump’s wall, Central Americans rush to cross the U.S. border

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/central-americans-surge-across-the-us-border-before-trump-takes-office/2016/11/18/1714789c-ab59-11e6-8f19-21a1c65d2043_story.html

 

Great article, in terms of describing the nitty-gritty of exactly what happens on the border, and afterwards. (If you read it, you’ll understand more than about 90% of American voters.) Far more complex and heartbreaking problem than you might think from all the political posturing.

Straight No Chaser – Weinberg Center for the Arts (Frederick MD), 11/9/2016

Row O, seats 6 and 8 (right side)

 

It was almost exactly seven months since we last saw Straight No Chaser at the Weinberg in “Fredrick” (their spelling, not mine); this show was equally great, with a similarly enthusiastic crowd that mixed first-timers and veterans. This time they used their medley of “Thriller” and “Uptown Funk” to start the show with a bang, rather than saving it until the end of the second set as they did in April. The encore was also similar, beginning with their now-more-seasonal take on “The 12 Days of Christmas” and ending with “Make You Feel My Love”. They also used their opening set to repeat a number of other highlights from the previous show, such as “All About That Bass”, closing with “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” morphing into “Proud Mary”. They did add some great material that they didn’t use in April, most notably a three-song Prince medley near the beginning and a hilarious medley of sitcom themes a little later.

 

The second set was almost entirely Christmas songs, most of which were from their just-released I’ll Have Another …Christmas Album, with “Feels Like Christmas” and “To Christmas! (The Drinking Song)” among the highlights. They got out of the holiday mold and ended the set with their must-see take on the Beyoncé hits “Crazy in Love” and “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”. The whole show lasted just under two hours, with a 25-minute intermission.

 

Setlist

Owen Danoff – The Mansion at Strathmore, 11/2/2016

Along with two bandmates – drummer Nate Read is a dead ringer for a former work colleague of mine – Danoff did a relatively short (about an hour) but still sweet set in a much more intimate setting that his show at the Hamilton earlier in the year. His solo acoustic mini-set in the middle of the show produced some of the best moments, including a medley of “Fire and Rain” and his own “No Such Thing”, as well as his cover of “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”. The material with the band was strong as well, especially on “See This Through” (which closed the main set), although on a couple of occasions the full-band arrangements were a bit much for our front-row seats in the tiny (100-seat) venue.

 

Highlights – Hometown Headstone, Fire and Rain / No Such Thing, (If I Had A) Starship, Don’t Think Twice, See This Through, Alone Life

 

Setlist

Serendipity #64

Learning The Hard Way – The Gin Blossoms

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtUekBjlYW4

Heard 11/4/2016 around 10:00am, at Wegman’s (Germantown)

#132 Can't Hold Us – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (2013)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SihoKQ-uLqE

 

Regardless of all the crap these guys got about beating out Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Kanye, and Jay-Z for Best Rap Album, this song has one of the great anthem-type choruses of the century. (They also deserve credit for “Same Love”, and “Thrift Shop” is kind of fun if you stick to the version edited for radio airplay.) I fully expect it to be played at sporting events as long as, say, “Seven Nation Army”, and hopefully long after the powers that be mercifully retire the woefully-overplayed “Mammy Blue”.

How to address the post-election anger

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/even-if-trump-loses-big-the-anger-will-remain-heres-how-the-left-can-address-it/2016/10/14/c848c4b0-8f02-11e6-9c52-0b10449e33c4_story.html?utm_term=.d667a962afd9

 

Great column by the always-thoughtful E.J. Dionne Jr. about how we need “to understand why Trump happened and to face up to how failures on the left and center-left have contributed to the flourishing of a new far right…”

October 13, 2016 (NLDS Game 5) – Dodgers 4, Nationals 3 – Nationals Park

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/206007428/dodgers-beat-nationals-in-nlds-to-go-to-nlcs/

 

Attendance: 43,936

Game Time: 4:32 (!)

Weather: 67 degrees, clear

Wind: 11 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Jeff Kellogg, First Base - Manny Gonzalez, Second Base - Dan Bellino, Third Base - Chris Guccione, Left Field - Ron Kulpa, Right Field - Tom Hallion

Seventh-inning stretch song: We’re Not Gonna Take It – Twisted Sister

 

Highlights – Nats took a quick lead in the bottom of the second, when Murphy singled, stole second, and scored on an Espinosa single … Max held LA scoreless until the seventh, pitching out of a bases-loaded jam in the fifth … after the Dodgers took the lead with 4 in the top of the seventh, the Nats rallied after the stretch, cutting the lead to one on a leadoff walk by Espinosa and a pinch-HR by Chris Heisey

 

Lowlights – in the bottom of the sixth with two outs, Nats 3^rd-base coach Bob Henley attempted to score Jayson Werth from first on a Zimmerman double (He was out. By a lot.) … Scherzer’s only pitch in the seventh was hit out of the park by Joc Pederson … 5 Nats relievers (!) allowed 3 more runs before the inning was over, keyed by a pinch RBI single by Carlos Ruiz and a two-run triple by Justin Turner … LA put closer Kenley Jansen in the game with one on and none out in the bottom of the seventh … after Jansen walked two in the bottom of the ninth, Clayton Kershaw came in after pitching into the seventh inning two days earlier to retire Murphy and last-man-standing Wilmer Difo to end Washington’s season, losing yet another first-round series despite having home-field advantage

 

Other – Livan Hernandez got a nice round of applause for throwing out the first pitch … in typical Nats fashion, they ran out of paper towels in one of the men’s rooms before the game even started, and ran out of pizza on the upper level in the fifth inning … we all booed the “last call” announcement for Metro in protest of WMATA’s decision not to extend the midnight closing time … game lasted 45 minutes longer than September’s Springsteen concert … getting out of DC seemed to take forever; it was past 2am when we finally got back to Westat

 

 

The GOP’s venomous charlatan

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/donald-trumps-vile-candidacy-is-chemotherapy-for-the-gop/2016/10/10/73e40f30-8f05-11e6-9c85-ac42097b8cc0_story.html?utm_term=.18774f9ead40

 

Very seldom am I a fan of George Will’s political columns (as opposed to his baseball columns, which are fantastic), but I did enjoy this one.

 

Question: Is DJT on his way to taking down more people along with him than anyone since Samson? (Please forgive me for mixing Trump and a Biblical reference in the same sentence.)

#131 Home Is Where The Hatred Is – Gil Scott-Heron (1971)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtzlFO19m3k

 

Although I’d heard a few Gil Scott-Heron cuts (“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”, “Johannesburg”) back when they came out, I didn’t become aware of this one until Kanye sampled it for “My Way Home” on his Late Registration album. (In case you’re wondering, I bought that album because another one of its tracks, “Hey Mama”, sampled “Today Won’t Come Again,” by folk singer-songwriter and WAMA Hall-of-Famer Donal Leace.)

Shuffle #93 (October 11, 2016)

Rocket Love – Stevie Wonder

Black And Blue – The Secret Sisters

Dreams – Fleetwood Mac

America – Simon & Garfunkel

Tobacco Road – Lou Rawls

I’m The One Who Loves You – The Impressions

When My Time Comes – Dawes

Love (Makes Me Do Foolish Things) – Martha & The Vandellas

October 9, 2016 (NLDS Game 2) – Nationals 5, Dodgers 2 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/205513796/nationals-even-nlds-after-game-2-victory/

 

Attendance: 43,826

Game Time: 3:55

Weather: 62 degrees, sunny

Wind: 8 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Chris Guccione, First Base - Ron Kulpa, Second Base - Tom Hallion, Third Base - Jeff Kellogg, Left Field - Manny Gonzalez, Right Field - Dan Bellino

Seventh-inning stretch song: Jump – Van Halen

 

Highlights – Nats catcher Jose Lobaton turned the game and series around with a 3-run homer in the bottom of the fourth (after ending an earlier bases-loaded threat with an inning-ending double play and dropping a throw at the plate as LA scored its second run) … Daniel Murphy had 3 hits and a walk, driving in insurance runs in the fifth and seventh … Trea had two singles, a stolen base, and a run scored … Roark was not at his best but limited the damage to 2 runs in 4.1 innings … 5 Nats relievers blanked the Dodgers on 1 hit the rest of the way

 

Other – first inning was déjà vu all over again, as Seager hit a solo homer for LA and all 3 Nats batters fanned in the bottom of the frame … enjoyed an early lunch at the “Budweiser Brew House” (fish tacos, pizza, wings, hot cider, and hot chocolate) … the sun made it surprisingly comfortable during the game in the upper level, despite windy conditions on the field … not sure whether official crowd figure counted the many pigeons that decided to attend … our chauffeur won the Designated Driver of the Game drawing; we all chuckled when his prize turned out to be a Nationals beer stein … game was originally scheduled for Saturday, but they decided to postpone it about 5 minutes after we arrived (we had expected a delayed start but not a postponement)

October 7, 2016 (NLDS Game 1) – Dodgers 4, Nationals 3 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/205330526/dodgers-hang-on-to-win-game-1-of-nlds/

 

Attendance: 43,915

Game Time: 3:46

Weather: 72 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 7 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Dan Bellino, First Base - Chris Guccione, Second Base - Ron Kulpa, Third Base - Tom Hallion, Left Field - Jeff Kellogg, Right Field - Manny Gonzalez

Seventh-inning stretch song: You Shook Me All Night Long – AC/DC

 

Section 305, Row E, Seats 21-23 (our seats for all home NL playoff games) – same level as usual but 3 sections away (about halfway down the left-field line) … only 2 seats away from the aisle, making the relocation a reasonably good trade-off

 

Highlights – injured catcher Wilson Ramos threw out the first pitch, as Livan Hernandez was unable to make it up from Florida due to Hurricane Matthew … after falling into an early 4-0 hole against LA ace Clayton Kershaw, the Nats got a 2-run single in the third by Rendon (following a Harper double, Werth walk, and a double steal), and got one more back the next inning, when Pedro Severino doubled, advanced to third on a Scherzer ground out, and scored on Turner’s sac fly … Scherzer (who went 6), Solis, and Melancon blanked the Dodgers over the final 6 innings

 

Other – Max gave up a solo homer to Corey Seager in the first, and 3 more runs in the top of the third, keyed by a 2-run Justin Turner shot … Nats got plenty of hits off Kershaw, but only one with a runner in scoring position … Espinosa fanned in each of his 3 at-bats, with 2 men on each time … Nats managed only 1 hit in 5 innings off the LA bullpen … Metro acquitted itself well in both directions (although on the way back we just missed getting on a crowded Red Line train that was waiting as we arrived) … getting out of the park after the game (at the same time with 40,000+ other folks) took forever, as our experiment of taking the left field ramp was not a great success

Rod Temperton

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-37565125

 

According to the BBC story above, British songwriter/producer/musician Rod Temperton “was nicknamed The Invisible Man because of his low profile”. No kidding – I’m not sure he even got his 15 minutes of fame, in spite of writing Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and a couple big hits for James Ingram, as well as the tracks listed below. I did mention him earlier on my blog, since he also wrote one of my all-time favorite songs (which unfortunately is even more obscure than he is).

 

Favorite songs:

Mystery

Rock With You

Off The Wall

Sweet Freedom

Always And Forever

What’s really behind Trump’s appeal

Nice column by Chris Cillizza, elaborating on Chris Matthews’ take on the subject

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/its-all-about-the-heart-not-the-head-for-the-average-trump-supporter/2016/10/02/df61a56a-88b1-11e6-8a68-b4ce96c78e04_story.html

October 2, 2016 – Nationals 10, Marlins 7 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/204648956/max-scherzer-allows-5-marlins-runs-wins-20th/

 

Attendance: 28,730

Game Time: 3:36

Weather: 73 degrees, overcast

Wind: 2 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - John Tumpane, First Base - Alan Porter, Second Base - Brian O'Nora, Third Base - Jeff Kellogg

Seventh-inning stretch song: Can’t Stop The Feeling – Justin Timberlake

 

Highlights – Max won his 20^th game, ending his 5 innings by fanning his final 2 batters to strand the go-ahead run at third base … he also drove in 4 runs (!) with 2 2-run singles … Espinosa hit his 24^th homer in the bottom of the fifth as the Nats scored 3 to retake the lead … Solis recorded the final out in the top of the eighth by fanning Jeff Francoeur after the Marlins got back within one run … Spencer Kieboom made his major-league debut in the bottom of the frame, walking and scoring a run … Turner (who also walked twice and stole his 33^rd base) and Revere had eighth-inning RBI singles to give Melancon some breathing room for his 47^th save

 

Other – Scherzer wasn’t at his best on the mound, yielding 2-run homers to Miami rookies Destin Hood (Nats second-round draft choice in 2008) and Tomas Telis, the first major league HR for each … Nats outdid themselves on Fan Appreciation Day, as all 3 of us got autographs from Mike Rizzo … didn’t win in the “jerseys off their backs” giveaway, but did get some swag in the traditional toss-goodies-into-the-stands event after the game (an XL “One Pursuit” T-shirt for me)

September 30, 2016 – Marlins 7, Nationals 4 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/204278716/justin-bour-marlins-beat-nationals/

 

Attendance: 30,857

Game Time: 3:08 (start was delayed 1:46 due to rain)

Weather: 63 degrees, drizzle

Wind: 13 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Brian O'Nora, First Base - Jeff Kellogg, Second Base - John Tumpane, Third Base - Alan Porter

 

Section 222, Row P, Seats 12-15 – upper level, about halfway down the right field line between first base and the foul pole

 

Highlights – back-to-back homers by Rendon and Drew kicked off a 4-run fourth inning for the Nats … Trea stole 2 more bases … nice pregame tribute to Jose Fernandez

 

Other – Nats starter A.J. Cole dug an early hole by giving up 4 runs in his 3 innings (although only 2 were earned) … offense was completely shut down by the Miami bullpen, whose members fanned 10 of the 16 batters they faced … Harper struck out in all 4 of his at-bats … due to taking Metro and the delayed start, we headed out in the sixth, after Dee Gordon drove in the decisive run on an infield single … on “Election Night”, they eventually ran out of donkey figurines as expected, while some elephants were still left

#130 Big Yellow Taxi — Joni Mitchell (1970)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94bdMSCdw20

 

“They paved paradise, put up a parking lot.”

 

Joni Mitchell is one of her generation’s finest songwriters, and I doubt that she (or anyone else) has ever packed more of a lyrical punch into such an amazingly short (2:16) song. Still timeless over 40 years later, I’m sure people will continue singing this one for a long, long time.

 

“You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.”

#129 Girl Come Running — Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons (1965)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skto7GZ2A4M

 

The Four Seasons pretty much got lost in the shuffle in 1965, with the continuing dominance of the British Invasion and Motown, not to mention Dylan going electric and James Brown basically inventing funk with “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag”. Perhaps that’s why this one peaked at a modest #30 on the national charts.  I’m not entirely sure why this is my all-time favorite song of theirs; it may be because it was the one in rotation when I first started seriously listening to Top 40 radio.

 

Classic YouTube comment: “Anybody know what note Frankie hits at 1:40?  I can't hear that high.”

#128 Songbird — Jesse Colin Young (1975)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nIGz7IivFc

 

Just to prove that Jesse Colin Young was just as mellow in his solo days as he was with the Youngbloods.

#127 Sunlight — The Youngbloods (1969)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYO0d6y2mQI

 

I initially fell in love with the studio version of this song when it was first released in 1969. (They tried again two years later; neither version even reached the Hot 100.) But the live version on the 1971 Ride The Wind LP (one of my all-time favorites) is even better. Just put this on, lie back on the grass on a warm spring afternoon, and gaze at the clouds. Follow with “Groovin’” by the Rascals, War’s “All Day Music”, and the Isley Brothers’ “For The Love Of You”. Repeat ad libitum.

#126 The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine (Anymore) – The Walker Brothers (1966)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q11ium_-Lv8

 

This vocal trio sure looked British (check the haircuts) and had some big hits on that side of the ocean, but they actually were from California. Only three of their songs (all great) hit the charts over here, including perhaps the best version of the Bacharach-David classic “Make It Easy On Yourself”. Admittedly they sound more like the Righteous Brothers than the Stones or the Kinks, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

September 20, 2016 – Tigers 8, Twins 1 – Target Field

http://m.twins.mlb.com/news/article/202393448/tigers-beat-twins-gain-in-al-wild-card-race/

 

Attendance: 23,395

Game Time: 2:46

Weather: 73 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 7 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Adrian Johnson, First Base - Gary Cederstrom, Second Base - Eric Cooper, Third Base - Ryan Blakney

Seventh-inning stretch song: Little Red Corvette – Prince

Kiss Cam song: Passionate Kisses – Mary Chapin Carpenter

 

Section 115, Row 17, Seat 1 – lower level behind home plate, with several rows of premium seats in front of the section

 

Highlights (Twins) – Brian Dozier singled to lead off the bottom of the first (extending his hitting streak to 23 games) and promptly stole second, but failed to advance any farther … Byron Buxton robbed Jose Iglesias with a highlight-reel catch in the top of the seventh … Robbie Grossman homered for the Twins’ only run in the bottom of the frame … starter Hector Santiago pitched effectively for the first two innings

 

Highlights (Tigers) – Matt Boyd efficiently shut down the home team on 99 pitches through 8 innings, allowing only 4 baserunners and retiring 14 straight Twins at one point … Detroit reached Santiago for single runs in the 3^rd and 4^th and put the game away with 4 in the 6^th, punctuated by a 3-run James McCann HR … Miguel Cabrera added insult to injury with a 2-run shot the next inning off Michael Tonkin

 

Other – Twins manager Paul Molitor disappointed those of us who hung around waiting for one more Dozier at-bat, pinch-hitting for him in the bottom of the ninth … Tom Lehman threw out the first pitch on Ryder Cup night … had a chicken tikka bowl ($11.00), something that you can’t find at a ballpark every day … quite a bit of information available on the various electronic scoreboards, including pitches in the current at-bat, an in-game box score shown periodically, a baseball headline ticker, and the names of winning and losing pitchers for completed out-of-town games

Serendipity #63

Take Me Back Again – Teddy Thompson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM4_m7YJteA

Heard 9/21/2016 around 7:00am, at the breakfast area of the Hampton Inn & Suites (Minneapolis)

Shuffle #92 (September 18, 2016)

Break On Through – The Doors

Don’t It Make You Want To Go Home – Brook Benton

Everyday’s The Same – The Housemartins

Baby I’m For Real – The Originals

Pain Lies On The Riverside – Live

Careless Love – Madeleine Peyroux

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face – Roberta Flack

Fade Like A Shadow – KT Tunstall

Just Like A Man – Del Amitri

Shuffle #91 (September 17, 2016)

The Mary Ellen Carter – Schooner Fare

Good Intentions – Lyle Lovett

Charlie Don’t Surf – The Clash

My Old Friend – John Hiatt

This Is My Song – Petula Clark

Steady On – Shawn Colvin

I Ain’t Got No Home – Bruce Springsteen

Soldier Boy – The Shirelles

High & Dry – Jamie Cullum

KT Tunstall w/ Conner Youngblood – Lincoln Theatre, 9/14/2016

Tunstall, who’s largely faded from the public eye despite releasing some excellent material since her breakout with “Black Horse & The Cherry Tree” and “Suddenly I See” 10 years ago, kicked off her North American tour with a bang Wednesday night, less than a week after the release of her latest album KIN. Her vocals were somewhat lost in the mix during the first two songs of her 100-minute performance, but she recovered nicely to deliver an energetic and engaging performance for the rest of the evening along with her three bandmates, with a solo mini-set in the middle.

 

Highlights – final song of her main set (“The Healer”) followed by her encore (cover of Springsteen’s “State Trooper”), “Everything Has Its Shape” (from the new CD), and the concluding “Suddenly I See” … clever interpolations in the middle of “Black Horse & The Cherry Tree” (“Seven Nation Army”) and “Hold On” (“Walk Like An Egyptian”) … “Invisible Empire” and “Feel It All” from her previous album … great cover version of “The Boys Of Summer” … “Maybe It’s A Good Thing” from KIN

 

Young multi-instrumentalist Conner Youngblood opened with a half-hour set, playing some guitar and keyboard parts himself and accompanied by a rhythm track (which was at times too repetitive and overbearing for my taste).

Serendipity #62

Harvest For The World – The Isley Brothers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz_OsEISBGo

Heard 9/12/2016 around 5:45, at Potbelly (Rockville)

September 11, 2016 – Nationals 3, Phillies 2 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/200761468/anthony-rendon-gio-gonzalez-lead-nationals/

 

Attendance: 31,805

Game Time: 2:49

Weather: 84 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 9 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Chris Segal, First Base - Paul Emmel, Second Base - Larry Vanover, Third Base - David Rackley

 

Notes – to our surprise, the game moved along quickly with efficient efforts from both Gio Gonzalez and Adam Morgan; the game had reached the bottom of the seventh before we had to leave for the second half of our split doubleheader … Nats took the lead in the first when Turner singled and scored on Murphy’s double … Phillies tied it in the top of the seventh on a Tommy Joseph HR … Nats took the lead with two in the bottom of the seventh … Freddy Galvis led off the top of the eighth with a homer on Koda Glover’s first (and only) pitch of the afternoon to cut the lead to 1, but Perez, Treinen, and Melancon shut the visitors down the rest of the way … Roman Quinn made his major league debut in CF for the Phils, going 0-3 with a walk … impressive and moving pregame ceremony in recognition of the 9/11/2001 terrorist attacks

September 10, 2016 – Nationals 3, Phillies 0 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/200618874/bryce-harper-homers-as-nationals-beat-phillies/

 

Attendance: 36,152

Game Time: 3:05

Weather: 88 degrees, partly cloudy

Wind: 4 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - David Rackley, First Base - Chris Segal, Second Base - Paul Emmel, Third Base - Larry Vanover

 

Section 111, Row JJ, Seats 15-18 – full original crew was here for the first time since Opening Day, nice lower-level seats on the aisle down the left-field line, out of the sun

 

Notes – biggest crowd of the series, for the Oktoberfest beer stein giveaway … came down early and stopped by TaKorean before the game … another pitcher’s duel, with both starters putting up goose eggs (Scherzer struggled with high pitch counts early but lasted into the seventh, while Jerad Eickhoff for the Phils needed only 82 pitches to get through six before leaving for a pinch-hitter … Phils center fielder Odubel Herrera kept the shutout going in the bottom of the fourth by throwing out Robinson trying to score from second on a Lobaton single … Nats finally broke the stalemate in the eighth when lefty specialist Patrick Schuster entered for Philadelphia with one on, promptly giving up a walk to Murphy and a 3-run blast to Harper

September 8, 2016 – Phillies 4, Nationals 1 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/200222852/alec-asher-ryan-howard-lead-phillies-by-nats/

 

Attendance: 25,412

Game Time: 2:48

Weather: 93 degrees, clear

Wind: 5 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Paul Emmel, First Base - Larry Vanover, Second Base - David Rackley, Third Base - Chris Guccione

Seventh-inning stretch song: Build Me Up Buttercup – The Foundations

 

Section 232, Row M, Seats 5-6 (free tickets from August food drive) – upper level in far right field, just in foul territory (so couldn’t see deep right and right-center field). Almost had the entire row to ourselves, did have some Phillies fans a little farther back. Very hot until the sun dipped below the opposite stands early in the game, relatively comfortable thereafter.

 

Notes – Phillies ended 9-game losing streak to the Nats … all of their offense came in the third, with a solo homer by Peter Bourjos and a 3-run shot by Ryan Howard … Nats starter A.J. Cole needed only 78 pitches to get through 5 innings before departing for a pinch-hitter, fanning 8 … Alec Asher made his season debut for the Phils and blanked Washington for 6 innings, although they hit quite a few balls hard, deep, or both … Nats loaded the bases with one out in the eighth off Hector Neris, followed by a Murphy sac fly and a Harper strikeout (the first Nat to fan all evening) … about 65-70 minutes to drive down (typical for weeknight games) … took advantage of coupons (2 for 1 Nats Dogs, $2 Cracker Jack) … buyer beware: frozen custard from Shake Shack is delicious but insidiously messy … made quick escape from The Parking Lot Formerly Known As HH and got back to Rockville before 11:00

September 5, 2016 – Nationals 6, Braves 4 – Nationals Park

http://m.nationals.mlb.com/news/article/199685872/scherzer-turner-lead-nationals-over-braves/

 

Attendance: 26,005

Game Time: 2:59

Weather: 86 degrees, cloudy

Wind: 5 mph

Umpires: Home Plate - Todd Tichenor, First Base - Carlos Torres, Second Base - Rob Drake, Third Base - Gerry Davis

Seventh-inning stretch song: Can’t Stop The Feeling – Justin Timberlake

 

Highlights – 3 hits (1^st inning double, 2-run homer in the 3^rd, single in the 4^th) and 3 RBI for Trea Turner … Chris Heisey followed Turner’s shot with a 3-run round-tripper later in the third inning … Scherzer wasn’t at his sharpest but held Atlanta to single runs in the second and sixth, pitching out of deeper trouble each time and talking his way into pitching the seventh

 

Other – Turner, Espinosa and Rendon were the only regulars in the lineup, as the team didn’t arrive in DC until 3am following the Sunday night game in New York … Melancon made things interesting by allowing 4 hits and 2 runs in a ninth-inning non-save situation … with a Monday game rather than a Signature Sunday, we came down early to beat the traffic and had a pregame lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings … subsequently tried the gelato (they seemed to have plenty of cups) … traffic getting out of our usual parking area was again a mess

Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band (The River Tour) – Nationals Park, 9/1/2016

Section 403, Row K, Seats 9-16. Upper level, down the left field line, at somewhat of an angle to the stage. We were fortunate enough to be under cover, as there was a little rain both early and late. We relied a lot on the big screens on either side of the stage, as the figures on the stage were tiny even with binoculars. Oddly, the screen showed Bruce himself almost the entire time, even when someone else was doing an extended solo.

 

Music-wise, this was definitely the best Springsteen concert I’ve been to this century. (Can’t remember all that much about the time I saw him in 1974 in Carlisle.) He wasn’t touring behind a new album, as he was when he first played Nats Park on the Wrecking Ball tour, and although this was still officially “The River Tour”, he had stopped performing that two-record set in its entirety. (In fact, only 3 of its songs made this night’s setlist.) Instead, the early part of the show was Bruce in wayback mode, featuring 5 consecutive tracks from Asbury Park and 4 of the 7 from E Street Shuffle. He also managed to get to all 5 of the non-single cuts from Born In The U.S.A., while doing only 2 of that album’s 7 Top Ten hits (“I’m On Fire” and the obligatory “Dancing In The Dark”). I was a little concerned about the sound quality during the opening “New York City Serenade”, but it was fine during the rest of the show. The crowd was generally enthusiastic, and Bruce and the band seemed to be having a great time throughout (along with Katie Ledecky).

 

Traffic wasn’t too bad on the way down, although it was a tight fit for 6 of us along with all our tailgating equipment and supplies in the brand-new Kia Sorrento. Our reservation for the parking lot on Half Street (about three blocks north of the park) proved to be a good choice, as the concert ended at 11:45 (started at 8:00) and we got back to Rockville just a few minutes after 1:00.

 

Highlights – “No Surrender”, “Spirit In The Night”, “Kitty’s Back”, “Rosalita” (the last song we listened to while tailgating), “The Promised Land”, “Hungry Heart”, “Jungleland”, “Bobby Jean” (which concluded the evening)

 

Key line from the excellent Washington Post review: [Springsteen] has been trying to make America great again for years in a way that’s antithetical to those who co-opt his progressive songs for conservative purposes.

 

Key line from the great writeup at Backstreets.com: Patti [Scialfa] elevated "Because the Night" with her unique vocal stylings.

 

Setlist