Month: July 2010

Who Needs The Butter Cow When Weezer’s At The State Fair?

Ten years ago (technically, nine years and 11 months), I went to my first Weezer concert.  Today, I went to my tenth.

I’ve seen them in all sorts of places – small clubs (like at the first show), an outdoor amphitheater, arenas and now, at a state fair.  I’ve gone to different cities, but this show was held about two miles from my house.

During my first show, held in the reunion summer of 2000, the band played a variety of songs from their first two albums along with a handful of songs that were in contention for their third album, then a year away (interestingly, none of these songs made the third album, though one would make their fourth).  During tonight’s show, held nine years and five albums later, Weezer played their singles, a mash-up cover and that was pretty much it.

Not that there’s anything wrong with their singles- they’re great songs and they played them very well.  But I do miss the songs when you’d hear a song like Falling for You or Crab at a live Weezer show.

Nevertheless, Weezer had a lot of energy.  Rivers once again showed it was possible to play guitar and bounce on a trampoline at the same time.  Scott rocked a kilt.  Pat went back and forth between lead guitar and drums.  And Brian took the lead on a very interesting instrumental (one of two) in the middle of the set.

For the show, because it was held at a state fair, there was a sign language interpreter off to the side.  The interpreter who covered Weezer’s set was rocking out while interpreting.  During Troublemaker, Rivers left the stage and joined the interpreter in her little area and sang as she interpreted.

It was a fun show.  The crowd was an interesting mix of all ages (because it was at a state fair), with a lot of kids.  One girl was celebrating her ninth birthday.  Maybe in nine years I’ll be able to take Hope.

King Tom1 Comment

What’s Up With Hope

Saturday night, the girls and I went to dinner. The Civee and I wanted to go to this Indian place, and Hope didn’t really care where we ate.  When we go out to eat, as long as there’s room, we’ll put Hope’s carrier on the table angled where we both can see it.  Saturday night was no different- The Civee and I sat across from each other, with Hope on the table.  She fell asleep shortly after we got there.

The waiter came up and started to make small talk, saying his wife is pregnant and due later this year.  Then he asked “what’s up with her,” while pointing to Hope.

I quickly replied “she’s just sleeping,” not realizing he was asking about the bandage across her face.

I guess by this point, The Civee and I have gotten so used to Hope’s cleft lip that when someone’s trying to ask about it tactfully we don’t realize what they’re doing.

Before she was born, as The Civee and I were being told about what having a baby with a cleft lip and palate meant, we were concerned.  Everyone’s aware of the cosmetic issues cleft kids face- that wasn’t a big deal to us.  We were warned that she may not put on weight (because she wouldn’t be able to eat correctly) and that in a worst-case scenario, we’d have to take her to a hospital to have her fed through an IV.

Fortunately, Hope’s been growing.  A lot.  She’s already more than 11 pounds.  And she’s tall (I think I know where she gets that from) for a three-month old.  She’s developing her own little personality, and thanks to some do-it-yourself surgery prep, her cleft has already closed by more than half.

There are a few pre-surgical preparations that doctors like to use before a cleft lip or palate repair.  Some involve implanting devices into the baby’s mouth which, in addition to being painful, have to be adjusted by a doctor on a regular basis.  Our doctors like a nice, easy approach.  Basically, we take two band-aids, two orthodontic rubber bands and a piece of surgical tape, put it together and apply it to her face like you see in the picture above.  We’ve been doing this since she was two weeks old and at first, we didn’t think it was doing much.  But at each appointment with our cleft team, we’ve been told that the cleft is closing and should be easier to fix when it’s surgery time.

Unfortunately, a child with a cleft lip and palate may need at least three surgeries- one to repair the lip, a second to repair the palate and a third to repair the gumline.  Hope’s first surgery is scheduled for the middle of next month.  We’ve been told the second surgery will be in the winter.  And the third will be sometime after all her adult teeth have grown in, between the ages of eight and ten.

So in a month, Hope’s lip will be repaired.  And the next time a waiter asks us what’s up with our baby, we’ll be able to say “she’s asleep” and have that answer their question.

As I mentioned, Hope is developing.  Over the past few weeks, she’s discovered her hands and feet.  Now she’s learning what to do with them:

King Tom1 Comment

The Boss

A few years ago, for no reason at all, I sent George Steinbrenner a birthday card.

I wanted to thank him for giving Yankees fans a winning baseball team. At a time when most owners seemingly tool their profits and ran from their teams, Steinbrenner reinvested his earnings (and more), ensuring that the Yankees would always remain in contention.

I sent the card off adressed to George Steinbrenner, Yankee Stadium, The Bronx New York 10451. I was surprised a few weeks later when I got an envelope from Legends Field in Tampa Florida. It contained a thank you note signed by the Boss himself.

Earlier today, George Steinbrenner died of a heart attack (twenty-something years after declaring that he doesnt have heart attacks, he gives them). More than any other owner, he left his mark on his team. When Ihe purchased the Yankees in ’73, the team had not been to a World Series in nine years, played in a dilapitated building and lacked any real stars. Within five years the Yankees would host three straight World Series at a refurbished Yankee Stadium (although Mike Burke who ran the team for CBS did most of the work on that) and had a number of free agent and home grown superstars.

Yes, early on in his ownership and up to his second suspension in ’90 he was impatient and short-sighted. Upon his return in ’93, his demeanor was different, but he had the same goal- to put on the field a team Yankees fans could be proud of.

Some claimed that through his ways, Steinbrenner ruined baseball. In my view, the other owners who chose not to put money into their ballclubs ruined baseball. By not fielding competitive teams, the other owners hurt the game and their fans.  Meanwhile, Steinbrenner’s drive to win led him to bankroll several winning teams for his fans (to say nothing of the millions he paid in luxury taxes to bankroll those teams whose owners spent little.

Regardless of his methods, Yankees fans always knew Steinbrenner demanded excellence. But more importantly, around the time of his second suspension he gained another trait that would endear him to Yankees fans when he returned: a sense of humor.  This could be seen as early as the fall of 1990, when he hosted Saturday Night Live.  In one skit, he played a Carl, a convenience store manager who had personnel issues:

Carl: It’s just I can’t.. I can’t fire people, it’s not in my nature.

Pete: You can’t keep saying that. If an employee isn’t delivering what you expect of them, you have to fire them!

Carl: Why? Where is it written if you don’t get results right away, you fire people? What kind of asinine policy is that?

Pete: Carl! It’s just good business!

Carl: That’s where you’re wrong! It’s not good business! You can’t have people worried all the time that they’ll be fired if they make one mistake. That’s lunacy! Only a jackasswould run his business that way!

Pete: Carl, this is the way it works: an unsatisfied owner fires people!

Carl: A stupid owner! A stupid, arrogant, shortsighted owner. The kind of guy who blames everybody but himself! How would you like it everytime something went wrong, I just blamed you, the supervisor, huh? Let’s just fire the supervisor! Then I’ll hire some other guy, and something would go wrong and I’d fire him, and I’d probably rehire you!Then fire you again, bring in someone else, then fire him and rehire you again! Then fire and hire, back and forth until the whole thing’s just a big joke! Is that the kind of owner you want? Some yammering nincompoop in a fancy suit? No way you take that road, ’cause before you know it, you’ll probably be banned from running the entire company.

-from snltranscripts.jt.org

Through things like his SNL stint, the infamous Sports Illustrated cover (above) and other appearances in movies and television, George showed he had loosened up.  And even if he still had some issues with his managers in the ’90s, by now he was an owner that fans could embrace.  I mean how could you hate a guy who would do this for a Yankees commercial:

And if nothing else, George Steinbrenner kept George Costanza employed for more than four years.

Thanks again George.

King Tom

The Voice

Back in the late nineties when I attended Yankees games on a quasi-regular basis, the Stadium took on the most peculiar echo during the reading of the Yankees’ starting lineup.  Bob Sheppard, who at that point had been the Stadium’s announcer for more than 40 years, would read the lineups.  During his pauses, most of the male fans in attendance (myself included) along with a few creative beer vendors would repeat the announcement, trying to mimic Sheppard’s distinctive voice and the specific order of each spot in the lineup (batting fourth, the Centerfielder, number fifty-one, Bernie Williams, number fifty-one).  But no matter how hard the crowd tried, there was only one Bob Sheppard.

Today, the Yankees announced that Bob Sheppard, who stopped announcing at the Stadium three years ago, died at home.  At the end, he announced games at the Stadium for 56 years, not to mention years as the PA announcer for the New York (football) Giants and several other NY-metro area sports teams.

In the last 10 years or so, announcers at minor league (and unfortunately) major league stadia have been going too over the top in their introductions, sounding more like they’re announcing the main event of WrestleMania than a baseball game.  But Sheppard didn’t follow the trend.  Sheppard announced each players’ name as the individual player wanted it to be announced.  Marty Noble has a great article on MLB.com about Sheppard’s fastidiousness and how he brought life to the words coming out of the speakers at Yankee Stadium.

All I can say is that when I went to the New Stadium last year for a game, the thing that bugged me the most about the new place was that Sheppard wasn’t there.  The team will still be the Yankees, and the new Stadium is their home.  But there was only one Bob Sheppard.

King Tom

The First Laugh

For the record, Hope laughed for the first time this morning at 9:20.

I was the cause of the laugh.  A well-timed fart joke which cannot be shared in a public forum caused the laugh.  While this was the first, it won’t be the last.  Nice to know this cements my position as father/chief entertainer.  Even nicer to know my daughter appreciates comic timing.

King Tom

Hope Versus the Octopus

One of Hope’s favorite places in our house is her Aquatic Adventure Gym, which The Civee and I can let her either lie down in or play on her stomach while we observe from afar.  The gym has an obvious marine life theme and the centerpiece is an octopus dangling from the top.  For a while, Hope has noticed the octopus.  But now, she’s starting to try and reach for it with mixed results.

I can’t decide if I like the video better with or without YouTube’s new vuvuzela feature.

King Tom