Year: 2009

Twenty-Seven!

The 2009 baseball season is over and the New York Yankees have won it all.

My first instinct is to say that all is right in the world. That with this victory, the new house feels like a home. But there’s more than that. While the 98-99-00 championships were great, this year’s championship is the first after many years of having great seasons, but underwhelming (or in the case of last year, no) postseasons.

This whole season, as a Yankees fan, was an exciting one.  You have the new ballpark, imports Burnett, Sabathia, Teixiera and Swisher, all of the come from behind and walkoff wins.  And then in the post season, the Yankees dispose handily of Minnesota, vanquish the longtime foes from Anaheim, Los Angeles California and finish it all by beating the defending champions.

As someone who was at the game the last time they won a series in The Bronx, this one definitely feels good.  I’m going to enjoy this.

And I’ll try convincing The Civee that Hideki is a suitable name for a boy.

King Tom1 Comment

Weezer's Raditude: You Take the Good, You Take the Rad

In the past I’ve avoided (and have even mocked) musicians and bands that do things like collaborate with other artists, such as rockers who have rappers perform on songs.  For my favorite artists, collaboration (unless if were of the Shatner-Folds-Weezer-Bill Clinton variety) really isn’t my musical bag.  Another thing I’m not a fan of- bands whose lead singer doesn’t take up an instrument.

I don’t know why, these things have just annoyed me.

Well now it looks like I either have to accept these musical trends or find a new favorite band.

On Weezer’s newest album, Raditude (the Deluxe Edition), released today, the band collaborates heavily with other writers and artists, with one track even featuring (groan) a guest-rap from Lil’ Wayne.  To top it off, during recent live shows, Rivers Cuomo has given up his guitar for large parts of the band’s sets.

What’s an old-fashioned Weezer/rock fan to think?

If that fan were me, and he gave Raditude a chance, he’d find out that for the most part, the collaboration isn’t a bad thing (although I hope in the future, they keep it to a minimum) and the album is a good, fun listen.

Despite my misgivings about the collaboration , Raditude works.  There are a few underwhelming songs, but Raditude succeeds in being what Weezer wants it to be – a power-pop rock album highlighting the band’s versatility.  There are ballads, straightforward rock singles and even a song that could be categorized as “world music.”

As evidenced by the title, Raditude is full of lighthearted, enjoyable rock. Pinkerton aside, Weezer was never a serious band (and even then, one could say they still had some goofiness under the surface) and the new album reinforces this.

I feel some songs are up there with the band’s best.  The Prettiest Girl in the Whole Wide World, a song that’s been around for 11 years and the demo of which was released on last year’s Alone II, finally gets a full-band treatment.  The spoken-word intro seems fitting after the wait the fans have had to endure for this song.  Trippin’ Down the Freeway is an up-tempo rocker with a clever lyrical progression in the chorus (although I have no idea what a Shirley Applebee look is).  Put Me Back Together (written with the help of the All-American Rejects) carries the emotional vulnerability of the Pinkerton years and sounds like it could have been written during Cuomo’s ’98-’99 recluse phase.

There are some other gems on the album, such as the lead single (If You’re Wondering if I Want You To) I Want You To, Let It All Hang Out, Can’t Stop Partying (the song with the aforementioned Lil’ Wayne cameo) and The Underdogs.

On the other hand, there are some tracks that just don’t work, such as I’m Your Daddy (while this one is listenable, the title just feels wrong, and the fact that they recently recorded a version of this with Kenny G makes me want to run), Get Me Some (where the band shows their metal influences, and while it’s good from that standpoint, it doesn’t really fit) and In The Mall (which sounds more like a joke song written for one of Andy Samberg’s SNL Digital Shorts).

The one song that I don’t know how to categorize is Love Is the Answer, a song originally recorded for 2005’s Make Believe and earlier this summer, given to Sugar Ray for a straightforward rock treatment.  Well, Rivers took the song back and taking a page out of the George Harrison playbook, incorporated a heavy Indian influence, with Hindi backing musicians.  It’s an interesting song, but I’m still trying to figure it out.

I like these songs, and would like to hear the band incorporate most of them into their live repertoire, including Run Over By a Truck, which features mainly a piano and drums, sounds like something Ben Folds would have dreamed up.

I like Raditude better than last year’s Red Album, for reasons including the return of guitar solos, and the fact that there’s one lead singer on the album, rather than four.

The other positive about Raditude doesn’t involve the album itself, but rather it’s release and promotion.  Once again, Weezer is releasing a number of bonus songs (some lists have this number being as high as 30), including alternate takes and full band demos spanning a number of years.  Some of these offerings (I Hear Bells) have been solid, while others (the Red Album’s Cold Dark World with Rivers on lead vocals) probably won’t be listened to again unless WinAmp hits it on random.

So while not everything on Raditude is among Weezer’s best, there is some truly excellent material here.  Add to that the amount of extra material coming out and you have enough to make any Weezer fan happy.

Even if Rivers is giving up lead guitar duties and teaming up with other musicians.

King Tom3 Comments

Lazy Susan, The Dumbwaiter

I recently had a life long dream come true: eating at the “Pope Table” at a Bucca di Beppo.

If you’ve never heard of it, Bucca di Beppo is a chain of Italian restaurants famous for their family-size portions and over-the-top interior decorating. The Columbus location also features the Pope Table, a round table for 10-20 with a bust of a pope atop one of those round serving things, with the table set in an alcove off the main hallway.

It was an experience being at the Pope Table. Perhaps the part of the experience that I’ve gained the most from was correcting my long-held (but wrong) belief that the round serving turntable atop which the pope bust sat is not called a dumbwaiter, but rather, a Lazy Susan.

For years, I believed the serving turntable was the dumbwaiter and the little food elevator was a Lazy Susan. Why? Well in my mind, the following made sense:

  • If the dumb waiter sets your dish down in front of someone else, they just put it on the turntable and spin it to get you your plate.
  • As for the Lazy Susan, it was named after a waitress in a joint where the kitchen and dining room were on seperate floors. Susan was too lazy to go up and down stairs all night.

Makes sense, doesn’t it?

Well, unfortunately, I was wrong all this time.

But at least I got to eat at the Pope Table.

King Tom2 Comments

Great Win, Ugly Caps

It’s nearly November and the World Series hasn’t even started yet.

At least the ALCS is over, with the Yankees finally taking a postseason series from the Angels. It was a long series and I’m glad it’s over.

Watching the postgame coverage though, my thoughts aren’t of the Phillies or the awesome performances of Sabathia and Rodriguez, but rather the ugly AL champion caps the Yankees had.

So now it’s on to the World Series. Here’s hoping the Yankees can wrap things up by Thanksgiving.

King Tom

(If You're Wondering If) Things Are All Right In Weezerville

Today Weezer released the video for their current single (If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To.

It’s a fun little video.  Very interesting visually (even if the Weezer kids are disturbing).  But I’m trying to figure out the message to this one.  Best I can come up with, as the kids say, would be “bros before hoes.”

King Tom

King Tom Vs. Leftovers

I like to eat.

I like to cook.

But I hate leftovers.

In the past week, I’ve done a lot of cooking; flank steak, spaghetti and meatballs, trout and a chicken bouillabaise. And it was all very good.

And with the exception of the trout, we’ve had leftovers of everything. So the past few nights have been leftover-filled (with the exception of Sunday, where we had spaghetti courtesy of the Civee’s mother). On my way home tonight, I was dreading tonight’s prospective dinner-leftover spaghetti. Not that it was bad-it was some damn fine spaghetti and meatballs. I just wasn’t feeling it today.

Luckily, in the mail we receoved a buy-one, get-one free coupon from our friendly neighborhood Chipolte (although it was puzzling, as the Grandview Chipolte does not need help drumming up business). I convinced the Civee to go with Chipolte for dinner and save the leftovers for another night.

We weren’t the only customers with that plan. Half the neighborhood showed up, coupons in hand. And even though the burrito hit the spot, now I’m wondering if it was the right move, as the spaghetti looms for a future dinner, hanging over our heads like the Sword of Damocles.

I’m really hoping for something else to come up for tomorrow. If any of the finer restaurants in Grandview care to throw some coupons our way, it would be appreciated. I may even be able to throw in some leftover spaghetti and meatballs in exchange.

King Tom2 Comments

Dear Columbus Drivers, Red Means Stop.

The other day, The Civee and I were walking around, about to cross the street, when we were almost run over by a car driven by a woman who apparently didn’t notice the red octagonal sign hovering over the intersection.

She eventually stopped, with the front of her car out in traffic, so we passed behind her, quite miffed, while alerting her to the fact that she blew past a stop sign.  Sure we were loud, but we felt because she had her windows and sunroof open that she heard us.

Flashforward to yesterday evening…I was waiting for The Civee to get back home from her class when I get a panicked call from her: “I’m all right, I was in an accident, I’ll call back later.”

Turns out, The Civee was going through an intersection on her way home, while some yahoo driving an SUV ignored the fact that he had a red light, ran through the light and straight into the side of our car (effectively T-Boning it).  Our car swung around and got hit again on the front.

The Civee bumped her head and was checked out by paramedics at the scene.  Other than a headache, she’s all right (and we think the baby is too).

The car, on the other hand, is not.  We went to the place where it was towed to pick up our things, and when we first got there, I didn’t recognize the car.  For some reason, they wouldn’t let me take pictures, but I can say that it made the last time we were hit look like a scratch.

As I said, luckily, The Civee is fine and our insurance should take care of the car.  But still, two incidents within days where our lives are endangered by idiots failing to heed the most basic rule- that red means stop.

I know I’m not a perfect driver.  But I’m definitely going to be paying attention to those octagonal signs and red lights in the future.

King Tom5 Comments

Kingdom For Sale

I guess I’m fooling someone, because this blog has been declared a success.

Well, it was called a success by my friend and associate J-Dog, who claims that I’m more likely to get blog sponsors than he is.

Outside of being offered a free product sample two years ago, I really don’t see that happening. I could always sign up for Google AdSense and make some serious money like the Morning Toast (or at least one-fourth of it, because he has a whole network, and I have, well, you’re reading it).

But J-Dog’s comment got me thinking…if I could get paid to plug a sponsor on the blog, would I do it?

Because the Kingdom is mostly for your and my entertainment, I’d do it if it was something I could get behind.

The obvious choices (and why they probably wouldn’t work) would be:

  • The Yankees (because the world doesn’t hear from enough obnoxious Yankees fans)
  • Lost (because the one remaining season needs more promotion)
  • Weezer (the label doesn’t promote their albums anymore, why would they pay to sponsor a blog?)
  • Star Wars (see The Yankees)

I think it’s highly unlikely I’d land any of those prime accounts.  And I wouldn’t want to shill for something I don’t believe in (or something that’s used to prepare a food I don’t like to cook).  So unless I were to sign up for AdSense, it doesn’t look like the dollars will be rolling into the Kingdom.

Speaking of advertising, the one little bit of marketing I do for the blog, sponsoring Hideki Irabu’s baseball-reference.com page, continues to pull in tens of visitors each month.  Best five bucks I ever spent!

King Tom4 Comments

Disclose. Or Else.

Word-of-mouth is one of the most important promotional tools that any product can have.

Generate a good buzz, and people will buy.  But if people don’t like what you’re selling, it’s very likely they’ll tell others to stay away.

Nowadays, people don’t just talk to their friends about things they may be looking to buy.  They also go online.  I’ve let reviews on Amazon or random blogs influence my buying decisions, and I’m sure that’ll continue in the future.

A few years ago, I actually got an offer to review a product that I mentioned on the Kingdom.  The PR rep for the item offered to send me a free sample to do a complete review.  While I was flattered, I turned him down (more out of the fact that I don’t cook turkey than any other reason).  I’m sure others who run more reputable and/or popular blogs get similar offers every day and are often rolling in free products.

In many cases, it’s assumed that someone reviewing a product for a media outlet has received a free sample.  In some other cases, reviewers mention they’ve received freebies from the manufacturer.

But now, bloggers are being told that they have to disclose any freebies or else.

Monday, the Federal Trade Commission announced new rules about disclosing items mentioned in blog reviews:

The revised Guides also add new examples to illustrate the long standing principle that “material connections” (sometimes payments or free products) between advertisers and endorsers – connections that consumers would not expect – must be disclosed. These examples address what constitutes an endorsement when the message is conveyed by bloggers or other “word-of-mouth” marketers. The revised Guides specify that while decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis, the post of a blogger who receives cash or in-kind payment to review a product is considered an endorsement. Thus, bloggers who make an endorsement must disclose the material connections they share with the seller of the product or service.

True, it’s a good practice to mention any links between a reviewer and a product, but not every case is that simple.  Or, as Wired puts it more simply:

If a well-known dog blogger reviews dog food they bought, no disclosure is necessary. If they review free dog food acquired through a coupon spit out by the supermarket’s computer, no disclosure is necessary. But if the dog food company sends the blogger a free sample based on their review, both the company and the blogger are on the hook if any subsequent review doesn’t include that info.

It’s an interesting idea, but as Wired mentions, it raises a lot of questions.

Here’s mine:  how’s the FTC going to enforce this?  I’m guessing this is aimed at U.S.-only blogs.  Okay, suppose I get a free copy of the next Weezer album (BTW-Geffen/Universal Music- I am planning on reviewing Raditude and it would be real helpful if you could send me an advance copy, okay?) and I give it a glowing review, but don’t disclose that they’ve given me a copy…What are they going to do? Fine my ISP? Reply to a post with a stern comment telling me to knock it off?  Send over a couple of government agents to unplug my connection?

Disclosing freebies is probably something that bloggers should do.  But I’m sure the FTC has better things to do than to make sure bloggers are doing so.

And Geffen, I’m serious about that review.

King Tom

Now That the Cat's Out of the Bag

When you learn you’re going to be a parent, you also find out a bunch of things that TV and the movies don’t teach you about the whole having a baby thing.
Everyone knows it will change your life.  But until you’re in that situation, and you start learning and talking to people, you never realize how much it will change your life.  Similarly, there are a whole slew of health issues that could throw a wrench into everything.  Most of those health issues pop up before the end of the first trimester (12 weeks).  Once you pass that 12-week mark, things remarkably improve.
Because of this, The Civee and I decided to wait to tell people when we first found out she was pregnant.  We weren’t ready to answer all of the life questions that people would have.  Also, we wanted to have our first doctor’s visit and make sure everything was in the right place before filling other people in.  I wrote about it ninja-style earlier this month, and since then, we’ve slowly started to let others know.
Well, now we’re out of the first trimester, and it’s not a secret anymore (also, she’s starting to show, so we wouldn’t have been able to keep it a secret much longer), so we’re starting to really feel like parents-to-be.
Yesterday, because there was a sale at Costco, we bought a box of diapers.  Two hundred came in the box.  Sadly, I was informed that the box wouldn’t last us six months like I had thought.
And today, after Mass, another parishioner came up to us and congratulated us (after politely saying she didn’t want to jump to any conclusions).  It’s really nice to have it out there.  And even though we don’t have all of the questions answered, I’m enjoying this father-to-be stuff.
Although it would be much tougher if I was going through everything The Civee is feeling.  She’s (and all mothers to be are) definitely a champ.

When you find out you’re going to be a parent, you also learn a bunch of things that TV and the movies don’t teach you about the whole having a baby thing.

Everyone knows it will change your life.  But until you’re in that situation, and you start learning and talking to people, you never realize how much it will change your life.  Similarly, there are a whole slew of health issues that could throw a wrench into everything.  Most of those health issues pop up before the end of the first trimester (12 weeks).  Once you pass that 12-week mark, things remarkably improve.

Because of this, The Civee and I decided to wait to tell people when we first found out she was pregnant.  We weren’t ready to answer all of the life questions that people would have.  Also, we wanted to have our first doctor’s visit and make sure everything was in the right place before filling other people in.  I wrote about it ninja-style earlier this month, and since then, we’ve slowly started to let others know.

Well, now we’re out of the first trimester, and it’s not a secret anymore (also, she’s starting to show, so we wouldn’t have been able to keep it a secret much longer), we’re starting to really feel like parents-to-be.

Yesterday, because there was a sale at Costco, we bought a box of diapers.  Two hundred came in the box.  Sadly, I was informed that the box wouldn’t last us six months like I had thought.

And today, after Mass, another parishioner came up to us and congratulated us (after politely saying she didn’t want to jump to any conclusions).  It’s really nice to have it out there.  And even though we don’t have all of the questions answered, I’m enjoying this father-to-be stuff.

Although it would be much tougher to enjoy if I was going through everything The Civee is feeling.  She’s definitely a champ (as are all other expecting mothers).

King Tom6 Comments