August 17, 2018 – Nats 8, Marlins 2 – Nationals Park

https://www.mlb.com/nationals/news/bryce-harper-collects-500th-rbi-in-win/c-290787052

 

Attendance: 37,106

Duration: 3:03

Weather: 80 degrees, Overcast

Wind: SSW 7 MPH

Umpires: HP: Ben May. 1B: Ted Barrett. 2B: Will Little. 3B: Kerwin Danley.

 

Section 320, Row E, Seats 3-5 – next-to-last 300-level section down the right field line, next-to-last row from the top

 

Game notes – Scherzer got his 16^th win of the season, blanking Miami through 6 innings on 5 hits and 1 walk while fanning 7 … he also contributed at the plate, scoring from second on a Harper single in the 3^rd, doubling an inning later and scoring on Eaton’s double … Zim and Wieters hit solo homers in the 3^rd and 5^th respectively, and Bryce manufactured a run in the 4^th, hustling out a double, reaching third on a wild pitch, and scoring on Rendon’s sac fly … Trevor Gott gave up 2 runs in the top of the 7^th before Grace came in to end the inning … Nats got those 2 runs back plus 1 in the bottom of the frame, featuring 5 Nats singles and 2 Marlins errors

 

Other – a light rain fell through parts of the game, although the threatened thunderstorms never materialized

Aretha Franklin

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/aretha-franklin-musics-queen-of-soul-dies-at-76/2018/08/16/c35de4b8-9e9f-11e8-83d2-70203b8d7b44_story.html?utm_term=.c35350cb1f4c

 

It seems somehow appropriate that the news of Aretha’s death broke during WXPN’s weekly-in-the-summer “Throwback Thursday”, which today has been devoted to music by women. Fittingly enough, it's now morphing into a longer tribute to The Queen Of Soul.

 

I saw her live twice, once at Wolf Trap many years ago, and in November of 2012 at DAR Constitution Hall (attended by, among others, Michelle Obama and Eric Holder). Both shows were great, although relatively short. Her recorded legacy, of course, is amazing.

 

Favorite songs:

Ain’t No Way

Angel

Freeway Of Love

Respect

Chain Of Fools

Day Dreaming

Rock Steady

Until You Come Back To Me

I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)

I Say A Little Prayer

Who’s Zoomin’ Who

Something He Can Feel

Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves

 (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman

Since You’ve Been Gone

 

Lyle Lovett & His Large Band – Wolf Trap, 8/10/2018

Row L, Seat 25 (leftmost “center section” seat)

 

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

 

This is certainly true of Lyle Lovett & His Large Band. You can count on impeccable musicianship in a wide variety of styles. (The Wolf Trap program blurb listed “country, swing, jazz, folk, gospel, and blues”.) Most of the players remain the same; some have been with him for over 20 years. The basic structure of the lengthy, intermission-free set (about 2 ½ hours) is pretty standard: an instrumental intro (typically “Blues Walk”) that allows all of the band members to stretch out before Lyle takes the stage, a mostly upbeat sequence featuring the full band, a more acoustic/introspective mini-set in the middle that includes headlining takes by fiddler Luke Bulla and guitarist Keith Sewell, and a rousing final sequence (ending this night, as is often the case, with “Church”), and an encore or two. Classics such as “If I Had A Boat”, “Here I Am”, and “That’s Right (You’re Not From Texas)” find their way into almost every show.

 

The changes, of course, are what makes the experience so rewarding over the years. When compared to the previous time I saw them two summers ago, “Penguins” found its way to the beginning of the show, right after Lyle came on, while Francine Reed’s “Wild Women Don’t Have The Blues” moved to near the end. A couple of non-Lyle songs that he had contributed to movies, “Gee, Baby, Ain’t I Good To You” and “Straighten Up And Fly Right”, appeared. And Lyle and Francine broke out some dance steps on both “Gee Baby” and “Penguins”. I don’t recall hearing “Choke My Chicken” before either live or recorded, and I don’t think I’d heard him do “Cute As A Bug” or “San Antonio Girl” live before. Those two are both from the stellar My Baby Don’t Tolerate album; an extended version of the title cut was one of the evening’s highlights.

 

My new favorite coming out of the show is “This Old Porch”, which he co-wrote with fellow Texan (and Texas A&M student) Robert Earl Keen. There’s a great article about it in an old issue of Texas Monthly, and the video is outstanding.