Remember the Swine Flu?

This past week, Texas Rangers starting pitcher Vicente Padilla tested positive for Swine Flu. However, this was far from a death sentence and, in fact, the righty is on track to make his next start.

Nothing terribly remarkable about this story, it just serves as another example of how the entire Swine Flu 'epidemic' was completely blown out of proportion, and entirely a media creation. Well, that is if you actually ask the scientists who study this kind of thing.

God bless 24 hour cable news.

One of the best shoegazer albums this year...

I've really been diggin' on the new(ish) album by Gliss, a Los Angeles-based three piece, lately.

Their new album is entitled Devotion Implosion. Here is a video of the single "Morning Light" from it:



Download Devotion Implosion here

Who needs a glove?

Jorge Posada, Yankees catcher, made one of the coolest plays I've seen in recent memory. Not necessarily the best mind you, but most unique.

During the July 10 Angels/Yankees game, Chone Figgins popped a ball almost straight up, and then lost his balance, inadvertently bumping into Posada and pulling his glove off with him. Miraculously, Posada managed to hang in there on the play and actually make the catch barehanded.

Above is a picture of Posada (correctly) arguing that the play should have been ruled batter's interference, and here is the video of the catch.

This will probably be the best album of 2009...

After initially sort of passing it over (though assuming I would eventually come back to it) I've been playing the new Grizzly Bear album, Veckatimest, a whole lot lately.

The reviews have been through the roof, and I strongly suspect this ends up as the best album of 2009 (competing with the wholly overrated Animal Collective album) on many a year-end list. Moreover, right now I'm thinking it's the lead contender for number one on my year-end list.

So, here's the band performing my favorite track from Veckatimest, "While You Wait For the Others", at the KCRW studios:

The 2009 Angels: Proving Murphy's Law

Note: second post for today, since I missed out yesterday. Enjoy my next piece for Angelswin.com...


By Zach Stoloff -- Angelswin.com columnist

This article started out as something else entirely. Originally I intended to write a normal, boring first-half wrapup, and to begin that piece I was going to briefly mention of all the injuries and unforeseen circumstances which have befallen the Angels this year.

After spending just a few moments listing all of these trials, it immediately became apparent that any explication of them would become an entity in and of itself: it’s hard to imagine things having gone much worse in Anaheim.

Nonetheless, it is July 13, the All Star break is upon us, and the Angels are in first place in the AL West with a record of 49-37, a game and a half better than the Texas Rangers. When one considers all the roadblocks that have already cropped up this season, this feat is borderline miraculous.

To appreciate just how improbable it is that the Halos currently find themselves atop the West, let’s look at everything that has gone wrong thus far, in no particular order:

-John Lackey: on March 15 the Angels get the news that their number one starter will miss at least the first month of the season. When Lackey finally does return on May 16, he lasts all of two pitches before being tossed from the game. Since, the impending free agent is inconsistent, giving up five or more runs in four of eleven starts for an ERA of 4.93

-Ervin Santana: early on in spring training the young All Star is diagnosed with a sprained elbow ligament. He returns a couple days before Lackey but makes only six starts before going back on the DL. Faring no better after coming off, Santana is largely ineffective even when healthy enough to compete, sporting a 7.81 ERA.

-Kelvim Escobar: diagnosed with a torn labrum in his shoulder during spring training '08, surgery causes him to miss the entire campaign. Despite the seriousness of the injury, his rehab progresses well and Escobar looks to join the team’s rotation in early 2009 before suffering a setback in April. After working his way back to the team and making a start on June 6, Escobar reports soreness in the shoulder and subdequently feels the same pain trying to play catch on flat ground weeks later. He remains on the DL.

-Nick Adenhart: a replacement for the aforementioned disabled pitchers, Adenhart dies April 9 in a tragic accident hours after throwing six shutout innings against the Oakland A’s in just the third game of the season. At the time of his death Adenhart is the youngest pitcher on an MLB roster.

-Vladimir Guerrero (part I): the lineup’s focal point goes down with a pectoral injury on April 16, eight games into the year. He subsequently misses 35 games but, like Santana, is a shell of his former self even when in the lineup. Despite showing signs of life before going down again (more on that later), Guerrero carries a .415 slugging percentage through the season’s first half.

-Jose Arredondo/Justin Speier/Jason Bulger/Kevin Jepsen: little needs to be said about this foursome. While all but Arredondo, who now finds himself in Salt Lake, show occasional effectiveness, the ERAs of the group are 4.38, 4.64, 5.55, and 9.00, respectively. Though Jepsen and Bulger in particular pitch better later on, Bulger’s giving up two home runs against the Yankees Saturday does nothing to bolster confidence in him, nor does Speier’s inability to get a single out Sunday. Simply put, the Angels never find a reliable bridge to Brian Fuentes.

-Scot Shields: probably never healthy at any point this season, Shields adds to the aforementioned bullpen woes by limping to a 6.62 ERA in 17.2 innings pitched before going down for good in ’09 due to the surgery needed to fix his recurring patellar tendinitis.

-Darren Oliver: the only Angels reliever all year, aside from Fuentes, to provide any actual relief, Oliver succumbs to a strained triceps after making a four-inning emergency start April 18. Luckily for the team, his stay on the DL is only just longer than the minimum 15 days.

-Howie Kendrick: the young second baseman, expected to contend for a batting title and be a key part of the Angels’ offense, hits so poorly that he is sent down to Salt Lake on June 13 after posting a .231 BAA to that point. In addition to his batter’s box flailings, Kendrick has numerous inexplicable defensive and baserunning lapses, compounding frustration with him.

-Bobby Abreu: while Abreu is generally one of the Angels’ best and most consistent performers in the first half, the slugger who came into the year with 11 consecutive seasons of at least 15 home runs (not to mention the epic 2005 Home Run Derby) takes 148 at bats -- 41 games -- to hit his first of 2009.

-Torii Hunter/Vladimir Guerrero (part II)/Juan Rivera: Guerrero and Hunter, the Angels’ 3 and 4 hitters, are added to the DL July 10, the Friday the team enters a 3 game set against the red hot New York Yankees. Rumors circulate that the pair could each miss a month. During the first game of this series, Rivera injures his quad and hamstring running the bases and is pulled a couple innings later, forcing the team to play the remainder of the weekend without the entire middle of their lineup.

--

Take all this in.

While such turmoil would destroy any other team, the Angels have thrived and find themselves in position to capture their third consecutive Division Championship. Every time one player goes down, another steps up his game to ensure the team doesn’t miss a beat.

This may not be the Angels’ finest season but, thus far, it is undoubtedly their most impressive in recent years. Every challenge has been met with unparalleled grit and heart, and Mike Scioscia’s one day at a time approach:

True Angels Baseball.

I don't have a fancy new phone...

Some pictures, taken with my old school Motorola Razr, from the Hollywood Bowl on Monday night...

Picture of the video screen while Mike Einzinger plays a sitar.

Sick Sad Little World

It's been a long time since I've really been a fan of Incubus. This is probably because both of their albums released after the departure of bassist Dirk Lance have largely blown.

Nonetheless, they are still one of the more objectively talented rock bands around, even if they can't write good songs anymore.

I absolutely wouldn't have gone if I wasn't getting in for free (a friend is repaying me for taking him to see Radiohead... I contend he got a slightly better end to the deal), but I am seeing Incubus tonight at the Hollywood Bowl... and I am kind of stoked.

Here is the band playing one of their only good tracks post-Dirk, ripped from the Alive at Red Rocks DVD:

The American economy personified

Lenny Dykstra was a very successful baseball player, and came to be known as "Nails" during his career for his all-out, Pete Rose-style of play.

After he retired, Lenny Dykstra was a very successful businessman... or so everyone thought.

First came this article in GQ Magazine, then a few weeks later this feature followed on ESPN.com from Mike Fish detailing Dykstra's business dealings. So it seems that Dykstra's supposed business prowess was, quite literally, built on lie upon lie.

There are too many great details of this story to list, but here are some of my favorites:
-the fact that Dykstra's magazine, The Player's Club, was designed to help athletes 'keep livin' the dream'... just like Dykstra
-the fact that you can link Dykstra and the recently-disgraced MSNBC host Jim Cramer
-the fact that, despite the incredible number of people who claim to have been done wrong by him, Dykstra has seemed to convince himself that he is the victim in each and every case.

Now Dykstra has had to declare bankruptcy, and for any reasonable person this would be a disgrace, and a sign that they are not the shrewd businessman they would like to believe. However, more hilaritry ensues in that Dykstra seems to believe that bankruptcy is a step to success.

Belligerence? I'm not sure that even begins to describe Dykstra's clear psychosis.

Nonetheless, an interesting story, and in many ways a personification of the American economy, specifically the kinds of attitudes that money grows on trees and certain people are bequeathed success due to their social status.

MJ is making this easy

NOTE: double post for today, since the game caused me to miss my post yesterday...

So, I did not get tickets to the Michael Jackson memorial at Staples Center. I've seen estimates between 1.2 and 1.6 million requests for tickets, for 17 thousand seats, so suffice to say the odds were against me.

However, I think it would have been a good experience. Not that I am particularly saddened by the man's death -- though I think he is fascinating in a pop culture sense -- but it would have been very interesting to walk around, talk to people, and be part of something that is, well, big.

So anyway, here is the video of him performing "They Don't Really Care About Us" at dress rehearsal for the This is It tour the day before his death:

Section 113, row J

Went to last night's Angels/Rangers game, and had tenfold the best seats I've ever had in that stadium. Took some pictures, as well...

Craig Finn = my favorite lyricist

Tonight I see The Hold Steady at the El Rey Theatre in LA. In honor of this fact, here is a video of them playing "Stuck Between Stations" from their album Boys and Girls in America on David Letterman's show:



I've always thought that Craig Finn more resembles the kind of guy you're likely to see doing code monkey work in a cubicle than fronting a rock band, which makes his lyrics about partying, alcohol, and general debauchery all the more surprising.

Nonetheless, goddamn does this band rock...

The Angels: The Best Fan Experience in American Sports

Last week ESPN The Magazine named the Angels organization #1 -- that’s right, the best in the (sports) business -- in a comprehensive survey ranking “all 122 MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL franchises by how much they give back to fans for all the emotion, money and time fans invest in their favorite teams.”

For a team which, for decades, was more closely associated with curses and bad Hollywood movies than winning baseball, this is nothing short of momentous. While there are always more championships to chase after, in a strong sense Arturo Moreno has achieved his vision of making the Angels a brand relevant to the greater sports world. However, this honor immediately begs the question of you, the reader: do you feel satisfied with the Angels?

Well, you should!

While journalism isn’t normally devoted to simply discussing why a given subject is particularly great, in plain terms this is exactly what I will be doing for the next 1,200 words. Why? Because I, even in my relatively short life, remember a time when being an Angels fan was not as easy, when 15,000 fans at Anaheim Stadium was commonplace, and when being in first place on July 6 was miraculous, not precarious. Given this history of futility, the team’s current status should never be taken for granted.

So let’s start running through all the reasons we, as Angels fans, have to be thankful, and give credit to the people who have completely changed the baseball culture in Anaheim.

I am going to start not with Arturo Moreno, but former General Manager Bill Stoneman. If it is possible to pick out one singular moment in which the franchise’s fortunes changed, it would be October 30, 1999: the day that Stoneman was hired. Quite simply, the now-consultant was the architect of the team which has won four of the past five titles in the Western Division. And while Stoneman was not responsible for developing the key components of the 2002 Championship, he did acquire the supporting pieces that turned that group from sometimes-contender to World Series winner.

Stoneman’s first action as GM was hiring Mike Scioscia, the other man whose presence has transformed the team. Though Scioscia was, at the time, considered young and somewhat inexperienced -- having only managed one season in the minors -- it is easy to forget that he had long been tabbed as the future heir to the Dodgers’ managerial legacy before FOX and Rupert Murdoch imprudently decided that they needed to bring in a big name like Davey Johnson. The fact that the Angels have been one of the most successful franchises in baseball this decade is in no small part attributable to Scioscia’s leadership, evidenced by the fact that he has already seen two former coaches move on to become managers with other organizations.

After these two men, of course, Arte Moreno must be named. Moreno refused to believe that the Angels were a mid-market team -- a fact Jackie Autry famously undersold -- and is largely the reason that there is a new dignity in being an Angels fan. That Mrs. Autry can now eat her words cannot be understated: even the Angels’ previous owners didn’t believe that the team had the resources to compete with the Yankees and Red Sox year-to-year. Moreno understood the opportunity in front of him and, combined with creative marketing and simple grass-roots appeal, has built an unmistakably big market franchise able to bring in marquee players and still be viable financially.

Probably as important, Arte -- for all his marketing and business saavy -- has always refused to interfere with baseball operations, allowing guys like Scioscia and Stoneman to put their talents to use in creating the kind of continuity that makes sports franchises great. Therefore, off the diamond is where Moreno has made his greatest impact. The expansion of the Angels brand has not been due to anything overtly flashy, simply giving fans what they want and making it affordable. At Angel Stadium parking is still only $8 (compared to the ridiculous $15 Dodger Stadium fee) and the average ticket price is the fifth lowest in baseball. For a perennial first place team in a major market, taking the family out to the ballpark is an incredible bargain.

Moreover, the integrity with which Angels franchise has carried itself has been beyond reproach. Seeing the Dodgers welcome in malcontent Manny Ramirez (who got himself traded to LA in the first place by dogging it on the field) brings to mind the way the Angels handled Jose Guillen in the fall of 2004. While Ramirez predictably let down the Dodgers, too, and has since been (mysteriously) cheered back into the fold, Guillen acted as if he was bigger than the team and was shown that he would not be allowed to hold his teammates hostage, even if his absent bat hurt their impending playoff run.

Beyond the big three I have already mentioned, there are many people responsible for bringing the franchise to where it is. Names like Tim Mead, Dennis Kuhl, Ken Forsch and Eddie Bane immediately come to mind, though the list could undoubtedly go on much, much longer. But however you view the relative success of the Angels franchise, there is one thing which must always be kept in mind: that there was a time (not so long ago) when it was very rare that an Angels’ season would feature 162 meaningful, consequential baseball games. Being able to watch a contender year after year is unequivocally the best gift that management has given its fans.

But now that the team is on top of the world, where do they go from here? Well, this is the one piece of speculation I will provide. Now that the Angels have a solid television contract -- essentially equal that of the Dodgers -- and their lawsuit with the city of Anaheim has been settled, making the team is free to continue using the ‘Los Angeles’ moniker, it would seem that revenues may have been tapped and business for the team might continue status quo for a while.

Here’s guessing that Arte Moreno already has his eyes on the year 2016, at which point the team can opt out of its lease at Angel Stadium. This is significant for two reasons: 1) it allows for the possibility of a new ballpark, and 2) it gives the team some business leverage. In this preseason interview here on Angelswin.com, Kuhl certainly did not deny that leaving Angel Stadium was a possibility, a move which should be welcomed considering its status as the fifth oldest stadium in MLB -- a fact which is apparent despite the ’97 makeover -- and the vague touches of Disney that still taint the park.

So while now is an exciting time to be an Angels fan, the future looks equally bright. With affairs in the world the way they are, it is more important than ever to be thankful for what we have, even in the realm of sporting entertainment. That being said, as Angels fans we should all be thankful for the job that management has done building this team from the ground up, creating something which even its former proprietors said couldn’t be done.

On behalf of all fans, thank you to Angels management for making the ballpark experience what it is and, most of all, for 162 (or more) meaningful baseball games to watch nearly every year.

Marijuana Kills

Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle is a great movie. And I don't mean that in the sense that Transformers is a great piece of entertainment. I mean that, along with Super Troopers, it is one of the great comedy films of my generation much in the same way that Some Like it Hot or National Lampoon's: Vacation are considered 'great' comedic achievements of their era.

So, here's one of my favorite scenes from Harold and Kumar; a faux PSA decrying the dangers of marijuana use:



What's frightening is how close this obvious parady is to the level of ridicuousness in real-life anti-drug campaign commercials:



What's sad is that, while this particular PSA is from the early 90s, I can distinctly remember watching this very ad as a kid, and being under the assumption that 1) drug dealers will come and find you if you're not using their product, 2) they will intimidate you into doing things you otherwise have no interest in doing, and 3) calling an angered drug dealer a name and walking away (with obligatory shoulder bump) will humiliate them into submission.

God Bless America.

Even more Michael Jackson

South Park is one of my favorite things, ever. No qualifier. So, in that spirit, here is a South Park tribute to 'Mr. Jefferson'...

More Michael Jackson

Double post for today, since I was lazy yesterday...

In continuing with the (ubiquitous) Michael Jackson tributes, here is the trailer for Moonwalker, Michael Jackson's full-length, theatrically-released film of 1988.



While most of the movie is composed of stand-alone elongations of MJ's videos from the recently-released Bad album, the "Smooth Criminal" sequence far more resembles traditional cinematic storytelling, and even features Joe Pesci.

The DVD for Moonwalker has been released in most of the rest of the technological world... except for America. And since there are no plans to actually do this, I encourage everyone to do what I did and download the movie through easily available torrents.

Something I've known for a while

According to an annual fan survey conducted by ESPN The Magazine, The Los Angeles Angels -- my longtime adopted team -- have been ranked the #1 franchise in American sports in terms of fan satisfaction.

Or, in their words: "Our seventh annual survey says the Angels are best at giving fans what they want."

A tip of the cap first needs to be given to Angels' owner Arturo Moreno, who -- while not completely transforming a game experience -- has been impeccable at giving fans the small things that they want: affordable tickets, affordable parking, affordable food and beer, and winning baseball.

Additionally, another tip of the cap needs to be pointed towards decade-long manager Mike Scioscia and former general manager Bill Stoneman; the men who are responsible for building a team from the ground up, creating a winning atmosphere in Anaheim, maintaining that success, and providing the bedrock foundation for all of this.

From someone who was a fan of the team since their childhood and through the 90s, thank you to these men (and everyone in the organization) for simply giving me 162 meaningful baseball games to watch nearly every year.