Yet Another Entry on The Beatles

As regular readers know, I am a big fan of the world's greatest rock & roll band, The Beatles, so allow me to recommend yet another publication on the Fab Four.  It is a tabloid published by USA Today on The Beatles in celebration of "The 50th Anniversary of Rock's Greatest Band".  Now available at your local newsstand for $4.95.  It is done in typical USA Today fashion - short stories, lots of pictures, and lots of charts and lists.


The paper lists "The 20 Best" Beatles songs.  I'll list them with no comment, and let the debate begin:

1. Ticket to Ride
2. I Want to Hold Your Hand
3. A Day in the Life
4. Elanor Rigby
5. Norwegian Wood
6. Penny Lane
7. Hey, Jude
8. Strawberry Fields Forever
9. While My Guitar Gently Weeps
10. The Fool on the Hill
11. Abbey Road medley
12. Girl
13. I Saw Her Standing There
14. Please Please Me
15. Let It Be
16. Here, There and Everywhere
17. Drive My Car
18. A Hard Day's Night
19. Come Together
20. Here Comes the Sun

OK, a few comments:

• Hard to argue the greatness of any of these songs, but another list of 20 completely different songs would still be pretty good, I'll bet.
• The only one that I would say doesn't belong here is Drive My Car.
• Never saw Ticket to Ride rated so high on lists like this
• Why does "Hello, Good-bye" never appear on any of these lists?  I have it in my own personal top ten.
• Think I'll put together a playlist of these 20 songs.  Would make a damn fine CD for me to listen to as I drive my car.

The magazine also debates which is The Beatles greatest album.  In 2003 Rolling Stone rated the 500 Greatest Albums.  In that poll, Sgt. Pepper ranked #1 with Revolver at #3, Rubber Soul at #5, and the White Album at #10.  In a 2011 Rolling Stone readers' poll, Revolver had moved to #1, edging out Abbey Road by two votes, with The White Album third, and Sgt. Pepper fourth.  Other sources had always ranked Sgt. Pepper at the top, but more recent polls (since 2010) have Revolver moving into the top spot.  Nine different music critics and historians debate this issue.  Very interesting stuff.

Anyway, always a fun topic and, as I have said before, anything that prompts you to start playing this music again is worthwhile.

The Obituary Blog is Back!

Note to Loyal Reader Dave Jones.  Just counted and have noted that five prominent deaths have been noted by The Grandstander in the month of June alone - and the month ain't over yet!

Yikes.

Ghosts from the Past

It has been a few days where some ghosts from the Pirates recent past have revisited the scene.

First, the Pirates recalled pitcher Bryan Morris from Indy to fill a bullpen spot just in case he was needed on Sunday.  He wasn't, and he was then promptly sent back to Indy. More to the point, Morris is the last remaining piece from Neal Huntington's first big trade - the three way deal that sent Jason Bay to Boston, Manny Ramirez to LA, and an assorted collection of trinkets and trash to the Pirates.  Yes, I know it was a trade that looked good at the time, and yes, I know that NH stole James McDonald from the Dodgers, and yes, I know that Bay's career has pretty much stalled due to injuries these past few years, and yes, I know Neal has made some stunning draft picks, even though Pedro Alvarez is the only one of those picks to make any meaningful contribution to the team so far.  However, facts are facts, and when Neal moved the biggest chip that he had in that first season he was here, it ended up as a miserable failure.

Secondly, the Pirates DFA'd Daniel Moskos yesterday, and his days in the Pirates organization are no doubt over.  No, this was not one of Neal's guys, but rather the Legacy (or Epitaph?)  of Dave Littlefield and the Penny-Pinching McClatchey regime.  I don't really have to go over the history of this painful episode, do I?

Finally, the Moskos move came about as a result of needing to clear space on the 40 man roster for catcher Eric Fryer, who is needed as an emergency backstop as Rod Barajas nurses a sore knee.  Why Fryer?  Well, Tony Sanchez, the catcher of the future, and one of Neal's #1 draft picks, is currently hitting .196 at Indianapolis.  If, four years into his professional career, Sanchez is deemed inferior to Eric Fryer as an emergency catcher, well, that tells you something, and it ain't good.

To Absent Friends: Nora Ephron

I was saddened to hear of the death yesterday of Nora Ephron at the age of 71.  She was a most talented essayist, writer, screenwriter, and director, with credits that include "When Harry Met Sally", "Sleepless in Seattle", :Heartburn", "You've Got Mail", and "Julie and Julia".  She was a true talent and will be missed.


RIP Nora Ephron.

Book Reviews: John Sandford, Robert Crais, and Robert J. Randisi

I had mentioned a few days back that I did a lot of reading on my vacation last week, and I know that you have all been anxiously awaiting what I have to say about what I read.  Here goes...




Let's start with John Sandford's newest Lucas Davenport novel, "Stolen Prey".  Regular readers know what a big fan I am of this series, and this latest entry doesn't disappoint.  It seems that soldiers from the Mexican Drug cartels have found their way to the Twin Cities, and are involved with the theft of vast sums of money via money laundering and leaving a path of horrible, violent death and destruction in their path.  It is up to Lucas and his BCA to work with both federal and Mexican law enforcement agencies to bring these people to justice, and, in the process, recover some $22 million in stolen, laundered money.


There is also a smaller, secondary crime under investigation and Lucas enlists his man Virgil Flowers to resolve it.  While this is a personal matter to Lucas, he is too busy with Mexican drug case, so from time to time, we hear, via Lucas' and Virgil's phone conversations, how this case is being investigated and eventually resolved.


If I have one beef with this book, it is that Sandford spends an inordinate amount of time discussing the mechanics of money laundering.  I know what money laundering is, but, even though I consider myself a reasonably intelligent fellow, I get lost when someone tries to explain how  money laundering gets done.  Just tell me "these people are laundering money" and spare me the pages and pages of how-to details.




The next book was Robert Crais' "The First Rule". Crais writes about a Los Angeles private eye named Elvis Cole and Cole's sidekick, Joe Pike.  Some of the books have Cole as the  featured character, while others have Pike.  As you can see from the cover, this was a "Joe Pike Novel" with Cole being the secondary character.  While it was an eminently readable story - i finished it in two days - I can't say that I'm crazy about the characters.  Cole seems reasonable enough, but Pike is so unbelievably smart, tough, indestructible, and unbeatable, that he is also unbelievable.  He is Steve McGarrett on steroids, and, in fact, he makes McGarrett look like a world class wuss.  So, if I try Crais again, it may be one of his novels wherein Cole, and not Pike, is the star of the show.


However, the most interesting book that I read last week may have been this one:


 

This is an old book, published in 1999 that I found in the second hand book store when I was looking for beach reading before we left for the Outer Banks.  The story itself was nothing special - a serial killer is on the loose in New York City and one determined NYPD detective is determined to track him down and bring him to justice.  It was entertaining and quick reading, another that I read in just two days, and it did have a surprise twist at the very end that was a bit of a "wow", but the real intriguing part of this book is the author himself.  Something made me Google Robert J. Randisi when I finished the book, and what I found was a revelation.


Randisi is 61 years old, has been writing since he was in high school and was first published when he was 23.  Since that time he has written, and written, and written some more.  He has had over 500 novels published in his life, and short stories too numerous to even count.  There have been years when he has had as many as 27 novels published.  He founded a professional organization called the Private Eye Writers of America, but he also has written over 300 westerns.  He has written a series of a half-dozen or so books called "Rat Pack Mysteries" where, yes, Frank, Dean, and Sammy, solve crimes.  There was even a period back in the '70's where he wrote a series of short stories for an adult publication called "Beaver Magazine".  Yes, he created a Porn Private Eye!  As he put it, they enabled him to make the mortgage payments for those months back then.


He has been called the "last of the great pulp writers", and he has been called a hack.  However you want to label him, I am in awe of someone with the ability to churn out, if not great literature, then at least entertaining fiction, at such an astounding rate.  Amazing!

To Absent Friends: Leroy Neiman, Victor Spinetti

While on vacation last week, we learned of the passing of two pop culture figures, artist Leroy Neiman and British actor Victor Spinetti.


Neiman is most known, I suppose, for his paintings of sports figures, an example of which is included at the top of this post.  However, a Google Images search under Neiman's names reveals lots of other cool works that he did over the years, including artwork for Playboy magazine back in the '60's and '70's, and one very cool portrait of Marilyn Monroe.  He was 91.





Spinetti died at the age of 83, and IMDB shows a long list of credits for him, as well as the fact that he won a Tony Award in 1965.  He may be best known, however, for his role as the frenetic TV director in The Beatles' 1964 classic, "A Hard Day's Night."  Spinetti also appeared in both "Help" and "Magical Mystery Tour" and, thus, he is the only actor, other than The Beatles themselves, to appear in all of their movies.  He was 82.







RIP Leroy Neiman and Victor Spinetti.

Post-Vacation Ramblings

The world doesn't stop just because I go on vacation, so let's clean out the Mental In-Box, Post-Vacation Edition....

• The Sandusky Verdict.  I know that last fall I said that I was not going to write any further on the topic of Jerry Sandusky, but the recently concluded trial brought the stench of this guy and his crimes back in the spotlight.  No, I was not in the courtroom, and no, I did not hear every piece of evidence presented, and, yes, I strongly believe in the concept of "beyond a reasonable doubt".  That said, there is no doubt in my mind that the Centre County jury delivered a just verdict late Friday night, and I am quite comfortable in the knowledge that Jerry Sandusky will never see light outside of prison walls again.
• Also, on trial, of course, is the culture of Big Time Sports at Penn State, a culture that allowed Jerry Sandusky to remain on campus, even after he was no longer employed there, and a culture that has turned Mike McQueery, the one guy who we seem to know did what he was supposed to do in the course of events, into a pariah in the local community, and who is probably pretty much unemployable in his chosen profession. 
• Before you point it out to me, I am under no illusions that this same culture exist at just about every other University that competes in Big Time College Athletics. 
• Those whose biggest priority is the preservation of the Legacy of Joe Paterno, should probably be thankful that the old coach has left this mortal coil.  The mess is only now beginning at PSU as civil suits and other allegations will begin to surface.  There is no way that Paterno (a decent man who in one of his last statements said that he "should have done more") would have survived the rot that will be revealed in the months ahead and kept his skirts clean.  Should 1,000 good acts be wiped away by a single bad act?  Not for me to judge, but, like it or not, Joe's "I-turned-it-over-to-my-boss" actions will be as much a part of his legacy as the Library, the undefeated seasons, and the 400+ wins.
• And this probably really will be the last thing I write on this topic.

On to more pleasant things....

• Is it too soon to start beating the MVP drums for Andrew McCutchen?
• Very exciting US Open last week with Webb Simpson emerging as champion.  Loved that it was on the west coast which enabled us to see it all in prime time while at the beach.
• Speaking of the Open, I enjoyed the telecast, but a word about NBC's sacred cow announcer Johnny Miller.  No one ever criticizes Miller because he "tells it like it is" and calls out golfers who "choke" down there on the course, but on Saturday, he said one of the most asinine things I've ever heard on any sports telecast.  After a Tiger Woods shot from the rough went astray, Miller said that he "could hear from the sound of the club striking the ball that Tiger hit that shot a groove off" on the club face.  Everybody loves to dump on Tim McCarver as a broadcaster, but on his worst days, Timmy never said something as ridiculous as that.
• Speaking of sports, the All-England Tennis Championship begins at Wimbledon in London this week.  After a lot of studying and reviewing hours of video, I am going to go out on a limb and say that Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokavic will meet in the Men's Singles Final at the conclusion of the Fortnight.
• Also, there will be no American Men left after the round of sixteen, if not sooner.
• The Miami Heat win the NBA title, just as I predicted, although in a shorter period of time than I thought. Any doubt who the best basketball player alive is right now?
• It was suggested by Colin Dunlap in The Fan a few weeks ago that the Pirates may have been at a crossroads in their season on the night that Justin Verlander punched them in the mouth with that near no-hitter in Detroit on May 18.  They could have folded it all in then, but instead they have now won seven of the nine series they have played since that one in Detroit, including the one that ends today with none other than Justin Verlander as their mound opponent.
• They are now a season high six games over .500, one game out of first place, and sitting in the second wild card spot (albeit by percentage points).
• I was going to wait until August 1 to start looking at the Wild Card standings, but what the hell!

I've probably left out some more things, but I don't think I've yet recovered from my middle of the night drive home form North Carolina.  There will be more to come in the days ahead, I'm sure.