poonkorama

^ yup it's a great one!

NP:

Speaking of great indie-pop:

I've only listened to about half of this album (thanks to a temperamental iPod) but so far it sounds great. The harmonies on "Down in the Valley" make me feel warm and fuzzy. I can see where the Byrds comparisons are coming from.

Sounds like the BCS is at least considering a playoff system, but not for another few years.

BCS official open to some kind of mini-playoff system

Associated Press

 

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- If the Bowl Championship Series were to adopt a mini-playoff format, it wouldn't happen until at least the 2010 college football season.

 

BCS coordinator and Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive said Monday he was "very, very open-minded about a plus-one," which could create a four-team playoff.

 

"I think we need to take a very hard look at that," Slive told reporters at a Football Writers Association of America meeting.

 

But a full-fledged NFL-style playoff has no chance of happening anytime soon, Slive said.

 

"The question is 'Is 1 and 2 enough?'" he said.

 

Slive doesn't expect any changes until Fox's four-year $320 million TV deal ends with the 2010 bowls.

 

The plus-one model was discussed by the BCS, though never seriously, when it expanded to five games and scheduled the championship game after the four major bowls. The first BCS national championship game was played Monday night between No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Florida at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale.

 

Although current TV contracts would not prohibit a BCS format change, Slive said it seemed unlikely any major alterations could be made in time to affect the current arrangement.

 

Fox is in the first year of a four-year deal for the broadcast rights to the Fiesta, Orange and Sugar bowls until 2010 and the national title game until 2009. The Rose Bowl has its own TV deal with ABC, a contract that runs through 2014.

 

Currently, the championship game is set after the regular season, using the top two teams in the final BCS standings.

 

With the plus-one model that has received the most attention, the top four teams would be seeded into two of the marquee bowls, essentially creating national semifinals. The winners would play a week later for the national title.

 

Another possible plus-one format would set the bowls using traditional ties-ins -- such as Pac-10 and Big Ten champions meeting in the Rose Bowl and the SEC champ playing in the Sugar -- and have the final BCS standings come out after the bowls are played.

 

The commissioners of the 11 Division I-A conferences and Notre Dame athletic director Kevin White will meet in March and June, and the college football postseason will be a topic, Slive said.

 

He said he would approach any discussion about postseason changes with three priorities in mind -- adhering to schools' academic missions, maintaining the passion of the regular season and preserving the bowl tradition.

 

Ultimately, university presidents will make the decision, and they have shown little support for a playoff in the past.

 

"I told our presidents they need to think about this and make some decisions about whether or not the BCS format should be the way it is today or whether they want to talk about some other format," Slive said.

 

The new five-game BCS format has one bowl site hosting two games in eight days. This season, the Fiesta Bowl hosted the championship game. The Sugar Bowl, which returned to the Superdome on Jan. 3 after skipping a year because of Hurricane Katrina, is scheduled to host two games next season.

 

"The question is not what New Orleans can do for us," Slive said, "but what can we do for New Orleans."

^^

But the game just wouldn't be the same without hearing John Mellencamp sing "This is Our Country" every 5 minutes

Does anybody know if ESPN Classic will be able to show a replay of the Fiesta Bowl? I switched it over to something else before all of the great stuff started happening(with like two minutes left!), and I just got sidetracked somehow before a buddy called me like an hour later and said to me, "Dude, please tell me you just saw the end of that game!"

 

I'd really like to see all of that stuff in its entireity. No way the highlights really do it justice.

A friend of mine was telling me a couple days ago that the NFL Network might be doing replays of some of the bowl games sans timeouts, commercials, etc (might just be BCS bowls). I don't know any details but you may want to check there and see.

That Boise St game was great. I had to leave at the end of regulation when it was still tied up, and didn't find out the final score until this morning. Exciting game all the way through, though---good for Boise State. Looks like Wake Forest couldn't pull off that kind of upset tonight.

I was huge into the Cure in high school. Don't listen as much now, but I still have a lot of their albums and pull them out to enjoy from time to time.

Favorite albums:

Head on the Door

(Kiss Me)^3

Pornography

Disintegration

Boys Don't Cry

The Top (pretty good album from a band so in shambles at the time)

I used to watch the "Staring at the Sea" video compilation and always found it interesting to witness the metamorphosis of Robert Smith (and indeed, the band itself) over the years. Starting off young and skinny (ca. 1977), with short straight hair and no make up, then gradually experimenting with new looks and new band members. Quite the transformation. First time I saw them live was at Dodger Stadium in L.A. (1990, I think), but we were so far back and so high up that we couldn't really see the band. Still a great show, though.

My mom always referred to Robert Smith as "The Whiner". Heh.

NP:

 

Thanks for the reminder, T.

 

It's days like this I love having entire discographies on my iPod.

Head on the Door is such a great album. Although I do prefer the remixed version of "Close to Me" (with horns) that is featured on Standing on a Beach over the original version on HOTD.

Given the dark raininess of today, I may have to listen to Pornography later.

hmm...

 

kinda doubt he's gonna be there, i know they're doing these things in other cities too...

Then again, Thee Parkside does have sort of a reputation for attracting well-known musicians (mostly to hang out and drink at the bar, not as much to play shows), so I suppose it could actually happen. But I agree, it does seem a bit fishy. Think I will try and check this one out.

Oingo Boingo - "No One Lives Forever"

Let's have a party, there's a full moon in the sky

It's the hour of the wolf and I don't wanna die

Then again, pretty much anything by Danny Elfman would be a good Halloween song

The Specials - "Ghost Town" has a spooky feel to it, too...

First time through on this one. I do like Van Dyke Parks' arrangements and find Joanna's voice to be a lot more palatable than before. I could see this one growing on me, but too soon to tell.

Sadly Miles was forced to stop making records a few years back.

 

LouieB

I've heard nasty stories & allegations on GD boards before,but of course it's all speculation (third-hand as well).All I can say is it must have been some heavy shit because no one in his right mind would let a guy this good go.Really a shame.

Yeah, I've heard that Kimock is an ultra-perfectionist and that he can be pretty difficult to work with at times (similar to the reputations of Arthur Lee and Kevin Shields).

Oh yeah,Steve Kimock.I saw him play with Trey once and he completely blew him away.

I've seen Steve Kimock numerous times (w/ KVHW, Steve Kimock Band, Zero, etc.) and he is simply astounding, especially live. Technically and virtuostically speaking, he is ridiculously talented; improvisationally, he is in another world. That may sound like hyperbole, granted, but Kimock is truly a gifted guitarist. You really have to experience it first hand to appreciate him, though. I'm not even into the whole jam band thing that much anymore, but I still admire the hell out of this guy. The story goes that Steve Kimock was one of the guitarists that Jerry Garcia most admired in his final years.

In addition to many of the bands already mentioned in this thread:

The Court & Spark: These guys are on the top of their game right now, and currently on a streak of really solid records (Bless You --> Witch Season --> Hearts). Opened for Wilco in Berkeley last year.

The Mother Hips: No longer on hiatus, with a new album tentatively coming out this Spring. Recent shows have been on fire. And no, they're not a hippie band, as everyone seems to think.

Billy Midnight: Relatively unknown band out of San Diego. Self-titled record from 2001 is one of my favorite albums...ever. Rumors of a new record are surfacing. Live shows are invariably amazing; unfortunately, they don't play outside of the San Diego area that often.

Though I don't drink them that often, I do like me a Young's Double Chocolate Stout (or any chewy complex brew) during those harsh California winters.

This Miller deal sounds like another marketing department "bad committee idea du jour" more akin to caffeinated beer or Tequiza than to an actual chocolate stout. I once tried a "chocolate Port" that actually had chocolate extract in it; completely ruined it. I picture the Miller offering being similar to this, given their usual output. Who knows, though....maybe they'll actually brew a decent chocolate stout. I'm skeptical.

Precisely. I don't enjoy beverages served warm, save for tea, coffee, etc. and even then I like it hot. A cold Guinness for me, please.

 

I've been drinking these this summer for the first time and really enjoy them. I went to a nice bar around the corner for the first time last week and they have it on tap. They won me over as a repeat customer with this alone:

 

Ahh, Full Sail. We visited the Full Sail Brewery in Hood River, Oregon last summer---what a cool place. On a hot summer day you can sit on the outdoor patio overlooking the river, put down down pints of Pale or Sessions stubbies and watch the (literally) dozens of sailboarders do their thing. The brewery itself is pretty much centered around two things: beer and windsurfing/sailboarding. Nice people running the place, too.

yes he did.

tower was a good place. it was the only chain with tatooed and pierced kids. catalog was important to them to maintain. mall stores concentrated on new releases and not every city had the gift of a good independent store.

 

i'm most sad about tower sunset. i worked for the la region and planned many instores at tower sunset. that store opened in 1970 and was the most rock n' roll store in the world. i met clapton, jeff beck, rod stewart, steve earle, joe strummer, etc etc etc. that store was the cornerstone of the sunset strip.

supposedly the plan for that lot is condos.

 

very very sad. end of an era.

 

~ jenna

Wow, I didn't realize they'd closed that one. I grew up in LA, and as a kid every so often my uncle would take me to the Tower Records on Sunset (followed by chili dogs at Carney's), and that was always such a treat. Found 12" remixes on vinyl that I would never see in the mall Wherehouses. I remember seeing Social D do an instore there when I was in high school. Always held that place in high regard, before Tower became too chain-y. Sad to see it go, even though I haven't been there in a gazillion years.

^ good to know, thanks!

that sounds pretty cool. i'll have to add it to my evergrowing list of music to find.

You can mail order it from Aquarius Records. They also have a few sound clips on their website. Used to be vinyl-only, apparently, but it's now out on CD. Good stuff...

Sitar Beat Vol. 1 (Indian Style Heavy Funk)....This is a great compilation!

Are these guys good live? They're playing here next week, but not sure if I'm going to go yet. Worth seeing?