Oil Can Boyd

I suppose this properly belongs in After the Show but I'm putting it here. I caught the first night of the Buffalo Tom 25th anniversary shows and it was great. Eugene Mirman opened with a brief but funny set. Ted Leo played a solo set that rocked - and included a really nice cover of Whiskey Bottle. Buffalo Tom opened with five straight rockers and then the guests came out. J Mascis played lots of solos, Tanya Donelly sang beautifully, Ted Leo came back out. Mike O'Malley sang The Seeker as part of the encore and then Mascis came back out for a tasty cover of Cortez the Killer. SET

KevinG - maybe I'm missing your point but where is defense being rewarded? Neither Verlander nor Braun won the MVP based on their defense.

That's fine but then it should be clear that pitchers are not eligible for MVP votes. What annoys me is when writers/voters take it on themselves to decide that pitchers are not eligible when the rules state that they are. Yes, I am still bitter about Pedro Martinez in 1999 (and the NY Post's George King).

Justin Verlander wins AL MVP: http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7265534/cy-young-winner-justin-verlander-detroit-tigers-wins-al-mvp

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8775ZmNGFY8

Cool graphic on this website showing the change in sales in different formats from 1980 to 2010. http://recordloungelocal.tumblr.com/post/9252000768/music-media-sales-1980-2010

Kristin Hersh

I saw them a bunch of times between 1986 and 1988 when I was living in NYC and found them sort of hit or miss. For me they really hit their groove (pun sort of intended) when James joined the band on Painful. There is definitely great stuff to be found on their earlier albums but I think they became consistently great starting with Painful.

I've been a big fan for a while and won't disagree with any previous recommendations. My three favorites are: I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass Electr-o-Pura I don't listen to Summer Sun all that much and The Sounds of the Sounds of Science doesn't do much for me. They are also a great live band. Enjoy the show ...

There was a nice article in this week's Boston Phoenix about Columbia House records. In the early days of CDs I certainly built up my library through both Columbia House and BMG. http://thephoenix.com/Boston/music/129722-rise-and-fall-of-the-columbia-house-record-clu/

Papelbon to Phillies for a reported 4 year/$50 million http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2011/11/report_papelbon_2.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZwgu8_b0Vw The Simpsons was always ahead of its time ...

Looks like he'll retire at the end of the season: http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/7211281/penn-state-nittany-lions-joe-paterno-retire-end-season

I know I'm a little late on this but I really enjoyed it. It present some scary information about food production/food policy.

Came out 20 years ago today ...

For readers of the Wallander mysteries, the Dragon Tattoo books, or just anyone looking for another series of Scandinavian detective/mystery books, these are pretty good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6M-h5g3PwI This made me laugh.

I'm a big fan of that one too ...

Somehow this song had never caught my attention before. It came on shuffle the other day and for a second I thought it was Tugboat by Galaxie 500 and then I was wondering if it was on Merritt's new Obscurities collection. I was shocked when I realized it was on an album I have been listening to for years. It's so simple yet so great.

Although I've had this for a while, this is becoming one of my favorite Magnetic Fields albums.

Tanya Donelly (and friends)

Big League Stew has the story of the fan who caught Freese's homer: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/The-story-of-the-Cardinals-fan-who-returned-Davi?urn=mlb-wp25597 I like his friend sporting the Cubs t-shirt.