Ted's Polish-Mexican Page
30 kwietnia 2006
High and Dry
For example:
The guys from Johnny Sevin talked about their early shows at Tumbleweeds, a bar that hosted both punks and bikers. One guy talked about how the band wore make up and had weird hair, and the bikers thought that they were probably homosexual. A guy two rows behind me said "You were!"
The guys from Thai Pink/Black Supersuckers/Supersuckers described how they had to drop "Black" from their name (probably for the similar reasons that they had to ditch the moniker "Thai Pink"). A row behind me: Rachel Sharp, whose complaints about the name "Black Supersuckers" when they were booked in the cellar back in 1990 probably led them to name change. Rachel shouted "That was me!"
They showed a bit from the Sidewinders video for "Witchdoctor," a Hip Clip of the Week on MTV way back when. When David Slutes appeared on the screen with all that overly done blonde hair do and those shorts that just screamed "1989," the whole audience laughed.
Also making an appearance: Luke "Grey Balloon" Knipe. He stumbled around for a bit, and apparently became angry at something and left in a huff after some undetermined fraction of the movie.
So, Toubassi, no Fells? No Lonely Trojans? No Host? What is up with that?
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
29 kwietnia 2006
NFL Draft Silliness
Can someone please explain to me how the NFL draft makes for good television? I was reading over on Wactivist that he is basicallly shut down this weekend so he can watch this thing. The draft will be broadcast on ESPN from 9 AM until 5 PM, then for two more hours on ESPN 2. That is ten hours. Then, they broadcast again tommorrow.
I suppose people are so obsessed with the NFL that they find this entertaining. In the last week I caught two shows, one was some field goal kicking contest between college players. They had three reporters covering this event, and they would do fawning interviews with these guys asking them how hard it was to make the decision to leave college and go to the NFL. With so-called professional reporters feeding their egos this way, it's no wonder why sports figures act the way they do.
The other show was, get this, people playing a football video game. I'm assuming the people playing the game were football players, the expensive suits plus ball caps were a dead giveaway. So, people are willing to take time out of their lives to watch football players play a video game. This is considered interesting.
A couple of years ago, I caught a broadcast of an NBA draft lottery. Not the NBA draft, the drawing to determine which piss poor team from the previous season got to pick first. The least you could say about this silliness is that it only took 20 minutes, and they didn't have a team of reporters doing analysis.
I don't like football very much; I think that is apparent. However, if people wanted to spend a whole day watching a bunch of games in a row, I could see that. That actually demonstrates a love of the sport. This is obsession with the business and trappings of the sport. Its funny that the people who poke at me telling me that soccer is boring will be glued to their TVs watching a bunch of men in suits have what is just a fancy press conference.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
I suppose people are so obsessed with the NFL that they find this entertaining. In the last week I caught two shows, one was some field goal kicking contest between college players. They had three reporters covering this event, and they would do fawning interviews with these guys asking them how hard it was to make the decision to leave college and go to the NFL. With so-called professional reporters feeding their egos this way, it's no wonder why sports figures act the way they do.
The other show was, get this, people playing a football video game. I'm assuming the people playing the game were football players, the expensive suits plus ball caps were a dead giveaway. So, people are willing to take time out of their lives to watch football players play a video game. This is considered interesting.
A couple of years ago, I caught a broadcast of an NBA draft lottery. Not the NBA draft, the drawing to determine which piss poor team from the previous season got to pick first. The least you could say about this silliness is that it only took 20 minutes, and they didn't have a team of reporters doing analysis.
I don't like football very much; I think that is apparent. However, if people wanted to spend a whole day watching a bunch of games in a row, I could see that. That actually demonstrates a love of the sport. This is obsession with the business and trappings of the sport. Its funny that the people who poke at me telling me that soccer is boring will be glued to their TVs watching a bunch of men in suits have what is just a fancy press conference.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
26 kwietnia 2006
The Other J. Napolitano at Hotel Congress
Former Concrete Blonde lead singer Johnette Napolitano (note the spelling) will be performing at Hotel Congress Thursday night.For a while, I would title Janet Napolitano related posts on my other blog with Concrete Blonde songs. None of you noticed because all of you suck.
No word on if she will be vetoing anything.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
An Unforseen Disadvantage
I'm a tall guy driving a small car. But the so-called "new Bug" is actually quite roomy inside, I have more head clearance than I did when I drove a Dodge pick-up truck. The Beetle also includes a dashboard that could comfortably accomodate a three course meal for two. I haven't found a use for that yet, but it's there.
There is one odd problem that I have encountered: when I am stopped at a traffic light, I often can't see it. This happens at many corners when I am stopped right at the intersection; it is not a problem when I am a car or two back. The celing of the car wraps down just far enough that I cannot see the higher placed traffic light that is in front of me, and the rear view mirror blocks the lower light to my right. This doesn't seem to happen at all corners; it is almost as if it is a result of the way newer traffic lights are built. I often have to hunch down a bit to change the angle so the lights can be seen.
Why am I telling you this? It has been bothering me for a long time and I need to tell someone.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
There is one odd problem that I have encountered: when I am stopped at a traffic light, I often can't see it. This happens at many corners when I am stopped right at the intersection; it is not a problem when I am a car or two back. The celing of the car wraps down just far enough that I cannot see the higher placed traffic light that is in front of me, and the rear view mirror blocks the lower light to my right. This doesn't seem to happen at all corners; it is almost as if it is a result of the way newer traffic lights are built. I often have to hunch down a bit to change the angle so the lights can be seen.
Why am I telling you this? It has been bothering me for a long time and I need to tell someone.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
23 kwietnia 2006
Odd Sight
I'm driving down Speedway about noon, and I see these guys in front of their house in their underwear playing in a kiddie pool. They were grabbing their crotches and screaming taunts at the folks leaving services at First Christian Church across the street.
Upstanding citizens, the three of them are for sure.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
Upstanding citizens, the three of them are for sure.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
22 kwietnia 2006
Best Goal Celebration EVER (at least for this week)
I hate DC United, so it pains me to give any of their players credit for anything. It especially pains me to give any credit to the whiny hack Alecko Eskandarian. But, I need to give the man props fot this one.Eskandarian scored a goal in today's game against the New York Red Bulls, he ran over to the United bench, grabbed a can of Red Bull, took a swig, and spit it out.
Beautiful.
Almost as good as the Stop, Drop and Roll.
Of course, for the rest of the game, Eric Wynalda complained about the celebration (even saying that Alecko's father would never have done that when he played for the Cosmos). Wynalda could say this because he was always a perfect gentleman when he scored his goals.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
One of those Quizilla Quizes
So, I found this one on someone's MySpace page:
What kind of Sixties Person are you?
Try it out, tell me the results.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
What kind of Sixties Person are you?
Try it out, tell me the results.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
Fiorentina 9 - LSD 11
Yeah, they wouldn't let me call the team "Bethlehem Steel" for a second go-around. Bastards, all of them bastards.
So, we call the team "Fiorentina," named for the Florentine team that folded in 2002, but was quickly reconstituted by fans. The team included, at various points, Roberto Baggio, Dunga and Rui Costa.
Anyhow, last night's game was against a team called LSD. Which leads to a question:
"What have you done, LSD?"
"Six months, I'm out on probation, but it's cool now, baby."
The game was close the entire time. There was one player who was a bit of a hot dog, he also enjoyed screaming at the referee (his fellow players too...). He often was the one that held the ball up front, but his unwillingness to pass the ball meant that they didn't score as much as they could have. I bumped one of their smaller players and I apologized, he said, "It's okay, I know you meant it..."
What the heck is that?
Apparently, he said some things to our other players too.
The game came down to the very end. LSD was up three goals with about eight minutes left. We were able to score two quick goals, and earned a penalty kick. I think we had everybody up. I engaged one of their players, the guy that was a show off, and ended up taking both of us down. This ended up freeing up the ball for one of our players. Shot after shot went wide, so we were unable to score. They got possession and scored one final goal 4 seconds before the end of the game.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
So, we call the team "Fiorentina," named for the Florentine team that folded in 2002, but was quickly reconstituted by fans. The team included, at various points, Roberto Baggio, Dunga and Rui Costa.
Anyhow, last night's game was against a team called LSD. Which leads to a question:
"What have you done, LSD?"
"Six months, I'm out on probation, but it's cool now, baby."
The game was close the entire time. There was one player who was a bit of a hot dog, he also enjoyed screaming at the referee (his fellow players too...). He often was the one that held the ball up front, but his unwillingness to pass the ball meant that they didn't score as much as they could have. I bumped one of their smaller players and I apologized, he said, "It's okay, I know you meant it..."
What the heck is that?
Apparently, he said some things to our other players too.
The game came down to the very end. LSD was up three goals with about eight minutes left. We were able to score two quick goals, and earned a penalty kick. I think we had everybody up. I engaged one of their players, the guy that was a show off, and ended up taking both of us down. This ended up freeing up the ball for one of our players. Shot after shot went wide, so we were unable to score. They got possession and scored one final goal 4 seconds before the end of the game.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
21 kwietnia 2006
How Many Hooligans Does It Take to Give a Curb Job?
So, neo-Nazi Polish Football Hooligans have promised to cross the border into Germany during the World Cup this year. I'll let you count the ironies there.
They plan on taking on English and German fans, and also plan on going after Turks. Turkey, who came in third in the last World Cup, didn't qualify this year. This should give you a good notion about how seperate such stupidity is from actually following the sport.
Hooliganism is a problem in Poland just like it is in many countries, and has kept many families from the games. It doesn't seem to be as well organized as it is in say, Italy, where the "firms" are connected with major political parties, but it is a problem. But, hooligan groups have been known to sign "zgoda," or accords with each other. It is pointless to think of these guys as anything but street gangs who wear football club logos to show gang allegiance rather than the "rags" we are used to here.
The worst hooliganism is between supporters (and I'm using that in the loosest sense of the word) of two clubs in northern Poland, Lechia Gdańsk and Arka Gdynia. Gdańsk, Gdynia and the city of Sopot form a "Tricity," and they all merge into each other. People who have traveled there say you can tell if you've left Gdańsk and entered Gdynia is to look for the hooligan graffiti. The games end in battles between the fans, one pitch invasion can be seen on You Tube:
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
They plan on taking on English and German fans, and also plan on going after Turks. Turkey, who came in third in the last World Cup, didn't qualify this year. This should give you a good notion about how seperate such stupidity is from actually following the sport.
Hooliganism is a problem in Poland just like it is in many countries, and has kept many families from the games. It doesn't seem to be as well organized as it is in say, Italy, where the "firms" are connected with major political parties, but it is a problem. But, hooligan groups have been known to sign "zgoda," or accords with each other. It is pointless to think of these guys as anything but street gangs who wear football club logos to show gang allegiance rather than the "rags" we are used to here.
The worst hooliganism is between supporters (and I'm using that in the loosest sense of the word) of two clubs in northern Poland, Lechia Gdańsk and Arka Gdynia. Gdańsk, Gdynia and the city of Sopot form a "Tricity," and they all merge into each other. People who have traveled there say you can tell if you've left Gdańsk and entered Gdynia is to look for the hooligan graffiti. The games end in battles between the fans, one pitch invasion can be seen on You Tube:
20 kwietnia 2006
It's Where the Desert Meets Rock and/or Roll!
High and Dry, which premiered at the Club Congress 20th Anniversary, will be making another appearence in Tucson, next week at the Arizona International Film Festival. It will be shown on the 28th at 7:00 at the Screening Room.There will be an "after party" at Hotel Congress...so you can see some of the folks in the movie older and drunk. Oh joy!
So, that leads to another question: will that darned Game of Their Lives rear it's head anywhere again? It opened in eight or nine cities for special showings, and has never shown up again. They even did ads for it after they opened it during MLS games, but they showed it nowhere, and never issued it on DVD. Heck, there are fans like me who would buy the DVD. I wrote to the distributor and all I got was a form letter.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
19 kwietnia 2006
Alexi Lalas: Ruler of the Galaxy
Credit to Thomas Moring, a former Tucson political hack who is now an attorney in Phoenix (a lateral move, at best), for the title.Yes, Alexi Lalas, the formerly goateed Revolution player is now going to be the general manager for the hated Los Angeles Galaxy. The talk was that the new management team for the New York Red Bulls probably wanted to bring in their own people, so Lalas got out while he could. There has been enough written about this from people who actually get paid to write about such things. Besides, y'all complain when I write about soccer anyhow.
But, here are two things I find funny:
- As General Manager for the MetroStars, Lalas fired coach Bob Bradley (not unusual for a coach from that team, they are like Spinal Tap drummers). Bradley is now coach of the Galaxy's in-city rivals, CD Chivas USA.
- In 1998, Lalas was part of a US National team player revolt that led to the ouster of coach Steve Sampson. Sampson is now coach of the Galaxy, so Lalas is now his boss.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
18 kwietnia 2006
Maybe He Was Just Tired of Hearing "Moon River"
New York Red Bulls forward and all around jerk Amado Guevara is under investigation by Major League Soccer after Real Salt Lake player Andy Williams alleged that he hurled a racial epithet his way.Given Guevara's "Me Me Me or I'll Cry" behavior last season, I am not willing to lend him any benefit of the doubt on this one.
When I was working for the Tucson Amigos, we had one African-American player, Bobby Bell, whose day job was as a guard at Florence prison. We had a game against one of the Armenian-American teams in Los Angeles, either the San Fernando Valley Heroes or the San Gabriel Valley Highlanders, I can't remember which. One of these guys we played against was apparently relentless with his N-bombs towards Bell.
After the game was over, the guy went to Bell to shake his hand. He said, "It's part of the game, right." Bell refused to shake his hand. Bell was a decent guy, I couldn't imagine him refusing to shake the hand of a fellow player, even if that guy broke his leg. Bell explained to him that it didn't hurt him, but he wasn't going to shake his hand.
Bell told me afterward that he heard worse every day at work, but this was different. He said he really didn't see any need to shake that guy's hand.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
17 kwietnia 2006
Actual Polish Content
Today is Śmigus-dyngus or lany poniedziałek ("wet Monday," but not a New Order song), known among Polish-Americans as Dyngus Day. This is the day that commemorates the baptism of prince Mieszko I, and it is always celebrated the Monday after Easter. Originally, boys that were courting girls would douse them with water and strike their legs with twigs (not hard, I hope). Nowadays, it is mostly a reason for everyone to carry squirt guns.There is more information on Dyngus Day and it's traditions at Wilson's Almanac. The holiday is a big deal in Buffalo, a time for political gatherings in Chicago, as well as a major to do in South Bend Indiana, of all places.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
Garden Ruin
I haven't actually bought the new Calexico album, although I, uh, acquired it from my brother. I have only listened to it in my car, and a rather cursory listen at that. I've come to one conclusion:Calexico 2006 = River Roses 1989
Gone are the mariachis, which is a minus, but also gone are the instrumentals that can sound more like the band was tuning up. What we have here is a -gasp- desert rock album that would be easily recognizable by the guys I used to see wearing their Green on Red shirts back in 1991.Actually, I still see those guys. And they haven't bought new shirts.
(If you don't believe me on the River Roses reference, listen to "Bisbee Blue" or "Letter to a Bowie Knife," then dig up that copy of When We Fall. Okay, better vocals.)
Okay...I haven't given it a strong listen...James Hudson has done that at his blog...complete with a rather strange rating system that I fail to understand (is Poblano Red a better rating than Poblano Green?)
This album comes out on the heels of a public spat between Giant Sand's Howe Gelb and Calexico's Joey Burns. Spat may be a strong word...Howe has complained on his blog and in at least one magazine article that Joey doesn't call him. Okay, this isn't Biggie Smalls vs. Tupac Shakur, since I don't think either party is armed, but the paralells to Metallica vs. Megadeth are there. But since this is Tucson, both sides will stew for a while and then forget the whole thing.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobacenia.
16 kwietnia 2006
Club Crawl 2006 - Sand Rubies
Rich Hopkins and David Slutes of the Side Rubies or the Sand Winders, I can't remember which. Shortly before the show, I met this woman named Kourtnie that knew the words to every damn song. This would have been more disturbing, 'cept I knew all of the words too.
Of course, she did drive out from San Diego for the show. So, maybe it is disturbing...
Their new bass player is either named Ana or Anna...I guess it would depend on her ethnicity. I saw her a while before the show struggling to move her gear. I had no idea who she was, I just saw her struggling with an amp. It had those tiny plastic wheels, which turn out to be more useless than no wheels at all. Anyway, she is the first female member of the band since the lovely and talented Diane Padilla left in 1989.
I saw Diane at roller derby on Saturday by the way.
Rich Hopkins, playing that one note that made him so big on alternative radio back in 1993.
At one point, some wag shouted for "Freebird," Anna/Ana actually played it. Well, a bit of it anyway. My shouts for "Love '88" were once again, ignored.
Anna/Ana could have pulled off "Love '88," she has a voice like Andrea Curtis.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
What is a Fan to Do?
The Revs lost 1 - 0 yesterday, but the Furious Truckstop Waitresses won by 21 points.
I am so conflicted.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
I am so conflicted.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
15 kwietnia 2006
Hmm...
Just in time to give a much needed boost to the reputation of lacrosse players everywhere, Universal Pictures has released United 93.Do you smell conspiracy?
I do.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
14 kwietnia 2006
You'd Better Bake His Birthday Cake, or Else He'll Write a Song About You
Tommorrow happens to be the birthday of Danny Walker of Pork Torta and Cliff Kuhn of Molehill Orchestrah.In addition to that, it is the birthday of David Slutes, who happens to book bands at Hotel Congress.
So, what do you think happens? A show tommorrow night with Pork Torta, Molehill Orchestrah and Slutes's current band, Little Sisters of the Poor. How on earth did they manage to pull such a thing off?
Just to be silly, here are before and after pictures of Slutes. We all get a bit older, don't we? Me, I still look so young.So, why the heck does Dave schedule his birthday the same day as FTW plays the Vice Squad? How absolutely thoughtless of him. I'd never do such a thing.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
Club Crawl 2006 - Tom Walbank and the Ambassadors
Tom Walbank...what more can I say?
He's English...I don't know how many of you who have spoken with him know this.
I tried to get a good shot of him kneeling and treating his guitar in ways that whoever first showed him how to play it wouldn't appreciate. By the end of the show, the whole area was engulfed in a dust cloud kicked up by folks that were dancing, sort of reminding those of us who were there of a smoky blues club. He had also broken two of his strings. Why even try to replace them though? Besides, Walbank could just whack on what was left on his strings while Mike Bagesse kept up with the actual chords and stuff.Sorry, Dimitri Manos, I didn't get a picture of you.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
13 kwietnia 2006
Club Crawl 2006 - Blind Divine
I caught a band named Blind Divine at Club Congress. They were quite talented, but I haven't decided yet if I like them though. You can download their music at their MySpace page. Apparently, some of their stuff has been licensed for television.
Daniel Martin Diaz plays guitar and keyboards. In addition, he is a artist and designer who has an affectation for Catholic iconography. He was the one who masterminded the recent redesign of the Club Congress stage.
Oddly enough, the re-design of the stage was perfect for his wife and lead singer, Paula Catherine Valencia. See, Diaz designed the stage, and also designed her dress. I'm sure it is a total coincidence.
Amril Fladoos's drum kit, also designed by Diaz. More iconography. By the way, the "13" that is on their web page is all over the metal work on the new proscenium.
Valencia with guitarist Michael Gladwell. His guitar is covered with various symbols, including what appears to be a Jesuit seal.
Valencia and bassist Jacob Stevens.
Hasta la proxima. Do zobaczenia.
