In
commercial terms, 1983’s Hearts and Bones
album is one of Simon’s least successful, both in terms of its own sales and
its failure to produce a Top 40 single. It did produce my two favorite Paul
Simon songs of all time: the title cut and “Train in the Distance”. I avoided
choosing between them for a long time, and even then it was basically a coin
flip. Simon apparently liked them as well, as he included both in his 1988
collection Negotiations and Love Songs
(whose title is taken from the lyrics of “Train in the Distance”).
Monday, July 24, 2017
Sunday, July 16, 2017
James Taylor / Bonnie Raitt – Nationals Park, 7/14/2017
FL 3, Row 15, Seats 27-28 (on the field, 15 rows back from the right
edge of the stage)
Bonnie Raitt – playing with her longtime bandmates, was in fine voice
and form throughout her 11-song one-hour opening set, starting with “Unintended
Consequence of Love”, the best track from her most recent album … “Something to
Talk About” and “Angel From Montgomery” were particular crowd favorites …
Taylor, after introducing her, came back at the end of her set to join her on “Thing
Called Love” … I missed “I Can’t Make You Love Me”, but she atoned by doing “Nick
of Time” and Mose Allison’s “Everybody’s Cryin’ Mercy”
James Taylor – Taylor and his aptly-named “All-Star Band” gave a
wonderful performance, over 90 minutes prior to the 3-song set of encores, with
mostly original material spanning his entire career … effective use of the huge
video wall behind the band, notably mid-set on “Mexico” followed by “Steamroller”
… other personal favorites included “Never Die Young”, “Sweet Baby James”, and “Your
Smiling Face”
Other – we were extremely fortunate weather-wise, as it rained hard during
much of our drive through the District and they kept people out of the seating
areas until close to the scheduled 7:00 start, but the rain stopped for good
shortly thereafter and the storms brought the temp down into the 70s … getting
our wristbands was quicker than I expected, although actually getting onto the
field was still a somewhat slow process
Monday, July 10, 2017
July 9, 2017 – Nats 10, Braves 5 – Nationals Park
Attendance: 35,030
Game Time: 3:32
Weather: 80 degrees, sunny
Wind: 9 mph
Umpires: Home Plate - Bruce Dreckman, First Base - Mike Everitt, Second
Base - Chad Whitson, Third Base - Jordan Baker
Seventh-inning stretch song: Build Me Up Buttercup – The Foundations
Highlights – Nats jumped out in front with 3 in the first, keyed by a 2-out,
2-run double by should-have-been-All-Star Anthony Rendon, who reached base 4
times … after the Braves tied it in the third, Washington outscored them 7-2
the rest of the way … top of the order (Goodwin/Difo/Harper) reached base 8
times and scored 6 of the 10 runs … Murphy put things out of reach with a
2-out, 2-run double in the bottom of the 8th
Other – Nats starter Joe Ross gave up a 3-run homer to Nats-killer
Freddie Freeman in the 3rd, then left an inning later with triceps
tenderness (and sub-par fastball velocity)
Rain? We don’t have no stinkin’ rain!
At this point, I’m sure that thousands of words have been written and
tweeted about the Nationals’ 3-hour “no rain” delay this past Thursday night.
Chelsea Janes provided a nice summary here, hitting on the biggest failure with
the following: “The rain delay was one thing. The lack of updates was another.
With no explanation about why they were not playing despite the lack of
precipitation, those inside the clubhouses and out were left to wonder about
the Nationals’ motives.”
Wednesday, July 5, 2017
July 4, 2017 – Nats 11, Mets 4 – Nationals Park
Attendance: 37,120
Game Time: 3:17
Weather: 84 degrees, cloudy
Wind: 3 mph
Umpires: Home Plate - Carlos Torres, First Base - John Libka, Second
Base - Dana DeMuth, Third Base - Paul Nauert
Seventh-inning stretch song: Living In America – James Brown
Section 220, Row H, Seat 17 – club level (a long story) behind first
base, in the shade
Highlights – after giving up a homer to the first batter he faced and
allowing multiple baserunners in each of the first 4 innings, Joe Ross
completed 7 innings, allowing only 2 runs … Nats started scoring in the third
on 2-out RBI singles by Harper and Murphy … also put up curly numbers in the 5th,
6th, and 8th, notching double-digit runs for the 14th
time this season … Met-killer Murphy wound up with 4 hits and 5 RBI … Rockettes
put on a short performance before the game, and another one between innings
Other – “be sure to drive over the white box on the way out of the
parking lot”
Monday, July 3, 2017
Everyone is mad at everyone
Robert Samuelson, on declining confidence in government, soaring
political polarization, and the “messy middle”.
Thursday, June 29, 2017
June 27, 2017 – Nats 6, Cubs 1 – Nationals Park
Attendance: 31,202 (below the team’s season average)
Game Time: 3:09
Weather: 79 degrees, partly cloudy
Wind: 3 mph
Umpires: Home Plate - Larry Vanover, First Base - Tim Timmons, Second
Base - Chad Fairchild, Third Base - David Rackley
Highlights – Nats scored in 4 of the first 5 innings, chasing Jake
Arrieta in the fifth … Trea Turner tied his career best with 4 steals, and the
Nats set a team record with 7 stolen bases off Arrieta and soon-to-be-ex-Cub
Miguel Montero … Taylor finished off the scoring with a 2-run double … after
giving up a first-inning run, Scherzer blanked the Cubs through the end of the
6th, allowing only one more baserunner … Nats bullpen held the
visitors scoreless over the final 3 innings
Other – left Rockville around 4:45 and didn’t get into the park until
shortly after 7:00, as traffic crawled both on Falls Road and much of the way
down the GW Parkway
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
Shuffle #97 (June 27, 2017)
Joy To The
World – Three Dog Night
That’s All Right
– Elvis Presley
Ain’t Even
Done With The Night – John Mellancamp
Rock Skippin’
– Jim Hall
Signed,
Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours – Stevie Wonder
Wheels –
Emmylou Harris
Right And
Wrong – Joe Jackson
Sweet Thing –
Rufus & Chaka Khan
Louisiana
1927 – Randy Newman
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