(true) impressionism (7)

m. shanghai band
union pool
brooklyn, new york
10/20/06

impressionism (6)

frank black
warsaw
greenpoint, brooklyn
10/20/06
(for the toxic avenger)

bars in my neighborhood

my neighborhood

just a few minutes ago

I passed Oscar winner (Terms of Endearment) Shirley MacLaine on the street (49th Street for those of you keeping score at home - and yeah, there's celebrities around here all the time, but Shirley MacLaine's kind of a big deal).

we made eye contact. she stonefaced me.

guess I don't look as good as I thought.

princeton moves to 6 and 0

following a questionable taunting penalty against Harvard, Princeton continued their drive to take the lead 31-28 and sealed the victory with two interceptions in the final four minutes.

go tigers.

exciting news

the Yes Network (home of those dreaded Yankees) is broadcasting today's Princeton-Harvard game.

it's like being there, except you don't have to freeze your ass off!

the Tigers, currently 5-0, just scored on a quarterback draw to tie the score at 7 so all is more or less well (except the long shots make the field look like early morning, sun-reflected lakewater - kind of hard to watch).

(there will be no live blog however, as there's way too damn much work to do and we all know what happened last time I blogged a Tiger game)

addendum: the Tigers just intercepted a pass at the Crimson 29 yard line. Harvard is also undefeated, having lost last to . . . Princeton, nine games ago.

update: early in the third quarter, after a three and out by Princeton, Harvard mounts an extremely impressive drive (including the conversion of a fourth and inches from their own 17 and an absolutely beautiful sideline catch by wide receiver Corey Mazza) to draw to within three.
so with just over eight minutes to go in the third, Princeton leads 24-21.

long day's journey into brooklyn (or, how I got home at 2:57 a.m.)

we're running late because we're playing around with the new camera, but eventually we make the walk to Steinway to catch the G train. and yes, we know that the G train stops running at 8:30 but we've got at least thirty minutes leeway there so off we set.

an R comes. we hesitate, then one of us (not me) asks the conductor who is leaning her head out the sliding window (ostensibly to visually check whether or not it's okay to close the doors), and learn that the G train doesn't stop at Steinway at all during the day, so we get on.

the conductor is nice enough to come into the car proper to explain further. G train doesn't run during the day (at least not at Steinway) so the signs that say the G train won't run from 8:30 Friday night until whatever pre-dawn hour on Monday are actually saying, It's not running at all. ever. at least not here at Steinway.

so we take the R to Queens Plaza, the V to Court Square where we catch the G train for three stops to Nassau Avenue where we disembark, walk the block towards McCarren Park to get to Enid's where our friends are patiently waiting with the last few sips of their first beer each.

our server is friendly and informative. the four of us order four different entrees (sweet potato quesadilla, creamed chicken and biscuit, fried chicken and smashed potatoes, and the three sides plate). everything is good and extremely affordable. we pay the bill, thank our server, and walk the couple blocks down to the Warsaw.

everyone, from doormen to security, is friendly. love the space (though they didn't seem to have the heat on). we miss Reid Paley, arriving sometime during the changeover to Frank Black who gets a mixed reaction from our group with the lowest marks from those only familiar with his Pixies material (an acoustic version of "Holiday Song," but that was about it).

and then.

and then we walk over to Union Pool (under the beautiful BQE) to catch the end of a friend's set.

unlike the Warsaw, Union Pool has no air-conditioning. and the front room provides a throng of drunken youngsters unseen since my last visit to a frat party. thick with loud, upwardly mobile drunks I'm telling you.

but there's another room in the back where the band plays and we managed to catch the last four songs.

but then.

but then we miss a G train (pulls out as we're heading down the stairs) at 1:30. we're planning to take the G to Court Square, transfer to the 7 (an elevated station and it's turned pretty damn cold by now), then to the N at Queensboro Plaza (another, even less protected from the elements station) to get home.

it takes more than 20 minutes, but less than 30 for the next G to come. four stops to Court Square where the conductor announces transfers available to the 7, E and V trains.

well, it's a walk to the 7. through the long station, up to the street, then up to the elevated. and the thing is, the 7 train isn't running. not running at all, it seems, from 12:30 Saturday morning to some pre-dawn hour on Monday. at least not between Times Square and Queensboro Plaza (and be forewarned: it appears the same plan will be in effect next weekend).

so there's a choice (in name only) to be made. and we eschew the E or V connection (which would mean another walk back), a transfer (after one stop) to the R, then a 12-15 minute walk home from Steinway.

wrong choice.

we walk through near desolate Long Island City to Queensboro Plaza. we're going to skip the 7 train entirely.

did I mention it was cold?

and we get to Queensboro Plaza (very elevated; many steps) and hit the N train platform just as the train pulls away.

I mean, I run ahead (I'm going to block the door or something) and I literally put my hand on the train (probably, in fact, bang on the door).

and then.

and then it pulls away.

I utter a choice expletive deleted (since at this hour (it's now 2:30) it's going to be another 20 minutes before another train comes).

it's only about a 20 minute walk from Queensboro to our apartment, but it's 2:30 in the morning, it's cold (did I mention it was cold?) and the streets in this neighborhood aren't exactly major thoroughfares during weekday hours and, truth be told, I'm feeling just a touch fortunate that the walk from Court Square to Queensboro Plaza was as uneventful as it was.

so we freeze our collective asses for 24 minutes before another N train comes and cross the threshold of our apartment at 2:57 a.m., bubbling with thoughts of never venturing to Brooklyn again. at least not during night time hours. at least not without commuting home through Manhattan.

forever and ever. amen.

mets-cards postponed

yes, Game Five of the NLCS has been postponed due to inclimate weather in St. Louis. and yes, Studio 60's on at 10 pm EST (9 pm Central - check your local listings), but what to do in the interim?

well, you could watch wrestling (like I'm doing). or Six Feet Under on Bravo. or you could read my latest piece (an early post it seems) in the Village Voice.

this is not the greatest album cover ever

at least I don't think so. but for whatever reason on

Friday
I felt like proclaiming Captain Fantastic as the best album cover ever. go figure.
on Thursday I'd stumbled across it (I somehow skipped over Fantastic in the Elton John progression. I'm fairly well-versed in Honky Chateau, Don't Shoot Me, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and even Caribou to some extent, but almost completely missed Fantastic which, if memory serves, is the first album in history to ship gold) and it felt so damn good to listen to something because I wanted to and not because I had an assignment.
also Friday, the commute to Princeton and a very cold (by the end at least) Tiger victory over Brown, 17-3.

Saturday
a trip to the Princeton University Art Museum (and another reminder that I'd like to delve deeper into the work of Chaim Soutine) and a couple of transactions at Princeton Record Exchange (which proves that I HAVE TOO MUCH MUSIC: 78.6 days worth on the iTunes with some to-be-ripped discs already in a pile, but the true measure is that I brought home no less than three discs (without knowing it obviously) that I already owned).
that night we watched The Director's Cut of Donnie Darko, missing the baseball playoffs and Auburn's victory over Florida (had to happen after the Arkansas debacle) entirely. which is the price you pay when the only television is hooked up not to cable but a personal DVD player.
War Eagle.

Sunday
an early commute back to the city for a delicious brunch at Odeon with a hungover, recently anniversaried couple. then the subway ride home where I noticed a woman with a canvas bag which read Long Island University School of Nursing. she appeared to be napping on the train with the book, Psychiatric Nursing Made Incredibly Easy, open across her chest.
personally I do not want my future psychicatric nurse to have taken the incredibly easy educational route.

damien jurado in phoenix new times

I've got a few pieces out this week, but the one I like best is on contemp folk singer Damien Jurado in Phoenix New Times. and here's some more pics of Damien last Friday night at NYC's Knitting Factory.

(listening to Guided By Voices' Bee Thousand right now. I'm off to Princeton in a little more than twelve hours and will be trying to make it through the Brown game (yes, it's on Friday night and it's supposed to be wicked cold). go tigers)

october 11th

yesterday is going to be a memorable one. I had a face-to-face interview with Lindsey Buckingham (one of my musical heroes and one of the few capable of bringing the pre-interview nerves up to levels previously only reached by impending sessions with Paul Westerberg and Charles Thompson III (a.k.a. Frank Black) and I attended Carnegie Hall for the first time (for a Randy Newman concert - love the Randy Newman)).

but the main reason that October 11th will linger is the plane crash into a 72nd Street apt. building which tragically claimed the lives of major league pitcher Cory Lidle and his flight instructor Tyler Stanger.

for the few hours that crash details remained a mystery, most every New York transplant received a phone call (or three) from family and friends asking what the hell was going on? (most often phrased as, Where are you? Are you safe?) because, understandably, planes crashing into buildings is something this city will never get over.

rumor, conjecture, uncertainty is almost to be expected in those first few hours. but damn if it should be continuing 24 hours later. and by theoretically reputable journalists.

which is why I'm extremely disappointed to see Philip Weiss' downright irresponsible blog entry on the New York Observer's website.

the blog entry's title? "The Suicide Question Re Corey Lidle"

I had a few days' worth of interaction with Philip about 14 years ago when Esquire sent him to Tuscaloosa to write an article on the starting gate of Alabama state politics that is the University of Alabama's fraternity system (it's called "The Machine" down there). and since native New Yorker Philip was rather a duck out of water in those Southern environs, and since I knew one of the assigning editors at Esquire, my roommate and I tried to make Philip feel a little wetter, or at least a little less ducky. we even introduced him to a few of our students who were active in Machine politics.

that's called an aside. I have no idea if my disappointment could possibly increase just because I spent some time with the writer 14 years ago. but the blog entry is downright sloppy and, worse, unbelievably irresponsible.

Weiss' contention/conjecture, of course, is that Lidle may've been depressed enough over the Yankees' early playoff exit to kill himself.

first of all, he spells Cory's name wrong not only in the title of his entry, but throughout his piece.
secondly, Weiss writes that "at least one MLB pitcher who screwed up committed suicide in the off-season." he doesn't even bother to look up the pitcher's name (I'm pretty sure he was thinking of former Angels pitcher Donnie Moore who killed himself with a handgun a full two and a half years after he allowed a playoff home run that is often misremembered as a game-winning blast. it should also be noted that Moore suffered from multiple financial, marital and emotional problems, had just been released by a minor league team (effectively ending his career) and shot his estranged wife three times before turning the gun on himself). because if one human being who happened to be a major league pitcher could kill himself following a loss (even a loss two and a half years before), all major league pitchers are capable, right? and really, it's not enough to suggest that the guy killed himself without any evidence at all, while we're here let's imply that Cory Lidle was selfish enough to not only kill himself (leaving behind a wife and six-year-old child) but take his flight instructor out too while endangering the lives of countless New Yorkers who might be in or around a towering apt. building on the upper east side in the middle of the afternoon (as opposed to say taking a solitary nosedive into an uninhabited field). is that your logic, Philip?

jeez, somebody hire an editor with the balls to say, Uh, that's about the dumbest fucking thing I've ever heard. and by the way, your writing on this one is almost unimaginably lazy (for starters, we still don't know for sure that Lidle was even piloting the plane) and this piece in no way qualifies as journalism. why don't we not post this entry?

or something.

impressionism (4)

Lindsey Buckingham at Town Hall, NYC, 10/10/06

the six-month iPod playlist

long about last April 10, the second (or third) (who's counting?) iPod died. and we had other iTunes issues, with the computer primarily, regarding an overlap of MP3 files after we added an external hard drive. seemed as if we had some songs damn near everywhere on our computer. so, we did what every red-blooded American with a burgeoning sense of ingenuity would do: we started over.

so here are Top 25 Most Played Songs (according to our iTunes Library) for the past six months:

"Let's Get Out Of This Country" from Camera Obscura's Let's Get Out Of This Country
"Town" from Richard Buckner's Meadow
"The Decline of Country and Western Civilization" from Lambchop's Damaged
"Country Mile" from Camera Obscura's Let's Get Out Of This Country
"I Need All The Friends I Can Get" from Camera Obscura's Let's Get Out Of This Country
"Lucky" from Richard Buckner's Meadow
"The Room Got Heavy" from Yo La Tengo's I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
"Black Flowers" from Yo La Tengo's I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
"The Race Is On Again" from Yo La Tengo's I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
"Canyon" from Richard Buckner's Meadow
"Mile" from Richard Buckner's Meadow
"Before" from Richard Buckner's Meadow
"Sometimes I Don't Get You" from Yo La Tengo's I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
"Kingdom" from Richard Buckner's Meadow
"Window" from Richard Buckner's Meadow
"Up With People" from Lambchop's Nixon
"If Looks Could Kill" from Camera Obscura's Let's Get Out Of This Country
"Fast Man" from Frank Black's Fast Man Raider Man
"A Dime and A Cigarette" from Head Like A Kite's Random Portraits of the Home Movie
"Numbered" from Richard Buckner's Meadow
"Daphnia" from Yo La Tengo's I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
"A World of Hurt" from Drive-By Truckers' A Blessing and a Curse
"I Would've Waited Here All Day" from Lambchop's Damaged
"Spell" from Richard Buckner's Meadow
"I Should've Known Better" from Yo La Tengo's I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass

though this list likely says more about the aural ingestions of albums than songs (despite the list heading), it's damn sure telling when it comes to the last six months' writing assignments.

impressionism (3)

Damien Jurado at The Knitting Factory, NYC, 10/6/06

arkansas at auburn live blog - fourth quarter

alrighty then.
the number two team in the nation enters the fourth quarter at home, behind by two touchdowns with Arkansas in possession of the ball on their own 45.

two-yard run to the right by Felix Jones.

end around to Felix Jones for a ten-yard gain and a first down at Auburn's 43.

McFadden runs left for three yards but there's a flag on the play. personal foul on Arkansas' Mitch Petrus (who I believe is thereupon clocked by one of his own offensive lineman for making such a stupid play).
short run brings up third and forever.
screen pass to Felix Jones to the right is stopped by Karibi Dede to bring up fourth and 23.

Dunn receives Skinner's punt at the 10 and stuttersteps, runs sideways long enough to bring about another penalty, this time a block in the back foul to push Auburn well inside their own 20.

here's the Geico commercial with Verne Troyer ("yeah, it's my birthday").
I loved the Geico gecko commercials but these new ones with guest spokespersons side by side "regular" Geico customers are pretty damn inspired. not so much the one with Charo, but I loved the Troyer, the Little Richard and my absolute favorite with Peter Graves (let's hear it for "tangerine lip gloss").
(did you know the Gecko has a blog? makes sense, I guess. certainly no surprise)

meanwhile, back on the Plains, Auburn's looking at three and out.
a third down screen to Brad Lester comes up short of the 20 and so Auburn's facing fourth and three from their own 18 with 10:55 left to go in the game.

punt, Tommy, punt.

not Blissful: let's call that punt 35 yards (of course, we're facing the same way we were in the first quarter) so Arkansas will start their next possession within ten yards of midfield.
this ain't looking good.

McFadden runs around left end for about twelve.

offside on Auburn to bring up first and five.
McFadden stuffed in the middle for a gain of a yard.
Felix Jones runs left for three. now third and one and we're about to go under nine minutes remaining.

McFadden runs off tackle right for five and a first down.

Felix Jones left for eight yards. McFadden left for four and a first down.
Jones up the middle for eight.
offside penalty on Auburn's noseguard and Arkansas has a first and goal from the six yard line with less than six and a half minutes remaining.
this isn't even going to be close.

McFadden up the middle for a yard.
Houston Nutt, Arkansas coach, is so excited on the sideline he looks like he's about to wet himself.
Auburn pursues upfield on a deep handoff to McFadden for a two yard loss. third and goal from the seven and a half and we've just passed inside five minutes.
Felix Jones takes a pitch right and is clobbered in the backfield for about a five yard loss.

Jeremy David, Arkansas's kicker, looks even less like a kicker than Sebastian Janikowski. he even wears number 50. but he nails it through the middle from the right hash and Arkansas leads by 17. and if the flicker of thought - have I done this? have I caused this loss by deciding, for the first time, to live blog this game? - flashed before, it's sticking around a little longer right now.

squib kick is allowed to roll through to the deep man who does absolutely nothing with it.
Auburn's ball on their own 17 with less than four minutes remaining.
short pass for little gain, incomplete pass across the middle (broken up) brings up third and nine.
pass left to Courtney Taylor should be good enough for the first.

Brandon Cox throws right into the breadbasket of Arkansas cornerback Darius Vinnett who promptly drops the ball.
another ugly incompletion (though not as ugly as the first one), followed by a sack of Cox. fourth and 15 and Auburn's not even going for it now.
Arkansas doesn't bother to put a man back so Bliss kicks (yeah, now he kicks) for 58 yards after the roll and I predict this is not the last game that Auburn will lose this season. not because they don't have the talent, but they fricking quit on this one, at home, against Arkansas. so what do you expect will happen when they play a team with a similar load of talent? like, say, Florida next week?

(man, it was going to be so downhill after that: Tulane, Ole Miss, and Arkansas State before Georgia (who has no offense) and Alabama (ditto)).

how does that Randy Newman song go?
shame, shame, shame, shame.

arkansas at auburn live blog - third quarter

Auburn's Matt Clark kicks the ball through the end zone to start the second half (and I think that backs up my wind theory on Kody Bliss from the first quarter since Auburn's moving left to right in the third quarter and they were going the opposite in the first).

note: halftime of a televised CBS game lasts almost exactly as long as it takes to prepare and ingest a fried bologna, egg and cheese sandwich (toasted white bread and mayo to further the Southern stereotype), and take bathroom and smoke breaks.
I mean, almost exactly.

Darren McFadden runs a draw for nine yards on second down and heads to the sideline holding his shoulder/right arm a little funny.

Auburn's line penetrates on third and short but Arkansas picks up the first.

Felix Jones gains seven up the middle on first down.

hand off to Jones for about two and a half.

third and short: McFadden re-enters the game but Mustain calls timeout.

I believe Steve Beurlein is the color commentator I've been referring to but I can't absolutely confirm just yet. whoever he is, I've agreed with him for the most part and have not found him annoying. his play-by-play partner is Craig Bolerjack (can I trade Brent Musberger for these guys for, say, the rest of my life?)

Arkansas throws a naked flare to the right for a nice gain and the first down.

Mustain takes the snap from the shotgun on third and six, Auburn gets good pressure from Marquies Gunn but Mustain escapes and tries to run over the Auburn tackler two yards short of the first.

Arkansas' punter, Jacob Skinner, does some kind of pagan, Florida State ritual behind the line of scrimmage (it looks like he's pretending to shoot an arrow up in the air). strange.
and it's a good punt but Robert Dunn (I still vote that he sits this half) dekes the Arkansas cover man and the ball bounds into the end zone for a touchback.

9:50 left in the third and Auburn has the ball on the 20.
attempted power run to the left but Arkansas safety Randy Kelly penetrates and drops Kenny Irons for a four-yard loss.
screen pass to Irons on second down for eight. third and six.
Cox is sacked at the 15 by Arkansas linebacker Weston Dacus.

Kody Bliss shanks the punt to his right for only 19 yards (something wrong with Kody other than wind?) so Arkansas will start at Auburn's 35.
this ain't looking good.

Arkansas starts from a funky, almost extra point formation, and wr Reggie Fish runs left for 29 yards to Auburn's six.

yes, Auburn has been off since a week ago Thursday (South Carolina) but Arkansas had a bye week following their overtime win against Alabama. and that's exactly the type of play you put in on an off-week.

review in progress, I think to see if Fish might've stepped out of bounds on the 15.

nope. Arkansas first and goal at the six.

pitch to McFadden who runs right with the pitch, untouched, until the goal line when he's met head on by Aairon Savage.
McFadden drops the ball but the refs rule him down on the one.

on second and six inches Mustain fumbles the snap but recovers (though somehow he doesn't lose any yardage? what's with that?)
Arkansas calls their second timeout of the half (they finished with one in the first half and that might've cost them a shot at a field goal as the half ended with them in Auburn territory).

pitch left to Felix Jones who is touched in the backfield by Will Herring but Herring can't make the tackle.
Arkansas leads 24-10 with 4:54 left in the third quarter.
this ain't looking good.

after the break, Beurlein says that he doesn't see Auburn as "a come from behind team." and he's right again. Auburn is a well-stocked, wear 'em down in the fourth quarter team.
which is not to say that the offense doesn't have firepower, but they're much stronger in ball control mode.

screen to Carl Stewart for a first down, then Cox is sacked by Ernest Mitchell for a seven yard loss (Auburn misses Joe Cope).

simple handoff to Kenny Irons goes for 17 and a first down.

a fake run, fake reverse bootleg pass to tight end Gabe McKenzie goes for a ten yard gain but should've been more and Cox got hammered in the backfield upon release.

long pass to Courtney Taylor, two steps in front of the defender, is short armed by Taylor (should've been caught for a huge gain) who actually slows down then watches as the ball lands a foot in front of him.
ugly flare pass to the left for a big loss, then Irons off to the left to bring up third and six from the thirty.

fumble! (I have no idea how that happened - mishandled snap?)
Irons recovers, flag on the play. Auburn's called for an illegal shift.
fourth and nine from the 36 and Auburn's going for it.
well, maybe not. Auburn's first timeout of the half with seven seconds left to go in the quarter.

I have no idea what that play was supposed to be, but Cox dropped back, feinted, dropped back some more, and then feinted into a Arkansas tackler for a ten yard loss.

memories of former Auburn quarterback Loren Carter.
and that's not a good thing.

arkansas at auburn live blog - second quarter

first play of the second quarter Brandon Cox checks off, drops back and lofts to Rod Smith (should I call him Rodgerigus Smith now? it's so much longer with so many misspelling potentials) who makes a beautiful catch falling back in the end zone (past two Arkansas defenders) to bring Auburn to within three.
Arkansas 10, Auburn 7.

I'm hungry.

kickoff is called out of bounds before entering the end zone (the ball bounced over the pylon) so Arkansas starts on their 35.

Arkansas runs for a first down but it's called back for illegal procedure (not enough men on the line of scrimmage).

second and seven and Mustain throws the ball into the gut of Auburn's defender who either drops the balls or has it stripped by the Arkansas wide receiver to bring about third and seven.
timeout Arkansas.

good pressure on third down by Auburn's defense and the freshman looks like a freshman. incomplete.

Arkansas punts and causes a clusterf*&k.
Auburn's returner Dunn swings back and back and wide and wide.
offsetting penalties (facemask and clipping) causes a re-kick and another clusterf*&k when the Arkansas cover man doesn't allow Dunn enough room to catch the punt but no penalty is called (at first - ultimately an illegal touch is enforced) as Dunn quits on the ball and a backup Auburn receiver covers at the four causing momentary heart palpitations.

screen pass to Kenny Irons on first down for a nice gain (first down), but Auburn's called for a personal foul (on Robert Dunn - I vote that Dunn sits down for a while) and half the distance to the goal line.

long pass to Courtney Taylor is correctly called incomplete, though the pass itself is some kind of pretty.

long pass to Rod Smith, incomplete, results in another flag, another delay, another cry of What the hell?
offside on Arkansas and the second flag is picked up because the pass is ruled uncatchable (muchly debatable) even though the Arkansas db shoves Smith out of bounds well before the ball arrives.

third and 3.
quick pass to Courtney Taylor on the right wing for a first down.
and after all of that Auburn still hasn't crossed over their own 30.

overthrow to Tre Smith down the right sideline on first down.

beautful run around left end by Kenny Irons to the Arkansas 49 on second and ten.

tough face to face tackle by Arkansas when Irons tries to go off tackle right, but Arkansas is called, once again, for offsides.

awkward pass to Carl Stewart with way too much air under it on first and 5. that could've ended up much worse than it did.

tough run up the middle by Irons, close to a first down.

Irons up the middle for a first.
weak end around to Courtney Taylor for a two-yard loss.
first sack of the game by Arkansas with Cox still in the pocket. third and 16.

good pressure by Arkansas by Cox slips the noose and throws a flair to Taylor for an 11-yard gain.

on fourth and five Tuberville goes for it, Cox can't find a receiver, tucks the ball and runs and never gets close to the first. CBS' commentator (I swear I'll find his name before the end of the game) says that Taylor was open for an easy first and wonders aloud why Cox didn't throw.

wow. on second and six Darren McFadden busts through the line for a 63-yard touchdown run for Arkansas.
they lead 17-7.

exactly five minutes left to go in the half when Arkansas kicks off to Brad Lester about four yards deep in the back left corner.
and likely I am not the only Auburn fan yelling, No, no, no, at the television when he brings it out, but Lester cuts through the middle runs it all the way back to the Arkansas' 32.

CBS' commentator suggests that Auburn should take the rest of the half to "pound" Kenny Irons into the Arkansas defense to "re-establish their identity."
I am in complete agreement.

Cox can't find a receiver on second down and runs for the first down. Auburn on the Arkansas 19.

Irons runs right for no gain.

misdirection screen is batted down and nearly intercepted on a beautiful play by Arkansas defensive end Antwain Robinson (actually broken up by the left hand of Brandon Cox).

third down pass is ruled incomplete (close call), then followed by a 36-yard field goal by John Vaughn.
with 1:46 left in the half, Arkansas leads 17-7.

Arkansas returns the ball to their 25.
McFadden is gangtackled for no gain.
less than a minute to go so I'm assuming one more running play before I head to the kitchen (still hungry).

nope. Auburn calls a timeout (their first) with 32 seconds left and Arkansas facing about a third and eight.

Arkansas' Felix Jones busts up the middle for a first down.
another run by Jones for another first down just into Auburn territory, but that's the end of the half.

I'm thinking the stereotypical Auburn fan scrambled egg and fried bologna sandwich.

arkansas at auburn live blog - first quarter

more in recognition of the knowledge that I'll get absolutely no work done during the Auburn-Arkansas game (though the recent interview transcribing is pretty much caught up) than any kind of pseudo-literary pursuit, I've decided to try a running blog on today's Auburn-Arkansas game (I'm running late - no time for the usual pre-game comments when you turn on the television right before kickoff).

Auburn got off to a nice start: good runback of the kickoff, an eleven-yard run by Kenny Irons, a ten-yard pass play to Rod Smith before a unbelievably ugly gimmick play (a tossback to Tre Smith in hopes of a pass back to Brandon Cox open in the left flat loses twelve) kills all momentum so Auburn punts (an unusually weak punt by Kody Bliss who misjudges his lag inside the 20).

in Arkansas' first series Auburn defended the run well (McFadden primarily) but gave up a large gain on a screen pass and another across the middle. then a misdirection run to the left by Jones goes for a big gain and Arkansas has the ball inside Auburn's 20.

commercial break for an Arkansas timeout (thankfully).

it's telling, at least somewhat, that this game is overshadowed in pre-game hype by Florida-LSU and Tennessee-Georgia when Auburn and Arkansas are the last two undefeated in the conference teams in the West division (meaning that it's likely that the winner of this game will go to the SEC Championship game).
and I can only assume that even after Auburn's close call on the road against South Carolina a week ago Thursday (was Auburn's staff severely outcoached by Spurrier? maybe. the flexible, forgiving defense certainly didn't work against SC quarterback Syvelle Newton) the experts don't take Arkansas very seriously (I have no idea what the point spread is on this game), after all, USC blew them out for the second year in a row and Arkansas beat Vanderbilt by only two points and Alabama (in overtime) by just one.

Arkansas hits a 34-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead.

kickoff for a touchback and two runs gain nothing, incomplete pass on third down and Auburn's set to punt again. not looking good.

44-yard punt by Kody Bliss for a fair catch at Arkansas' 36 (not a bad punt obviously - a 44-yard pickup in field position - but I'm guessing there's some wind in the stadium today as that one looked like in hung up a bit (no carry)).

this is harder than it looks, by the way.

my beloved is back from the drug store and is now updating her iPod (three weeks behind) and keeping an eye on the laundry we started before the game, which is one of the reasons I was running a little behind. didn't eat (or haven't eaten) but I did manage to unload the dishwasher.

eight-yard gain on a pass across the middle by true freshman Mitch Mustain (looks like Arkansas, like South Carolina, might be another team that you'd want to play really early this season (maybe one game earlier than Auburn's playing these guys) as both offenses (SC and Arkansas) look like they can do some damage.

gamebreak shows that Iowa is up by two touchdowns early over Purdue.

overthrown pass by Mustain for his first incomplete of the game. third and six.

Auburn blitzes. Mustain throws off his back foot. Auburn's db falls down (looks like he might've been pulled down by Monk, Arkansas' wide receiver) and Monk reins in Mustain's floater and waltzes into the end zone for a 10-0 Arkansas lead.
50 yards, by the way.
CBS' commentator calls the play "a gift from heaven" for Arkansas, and points out that this is the largest deficit that Auburn has faced this year.

Auburn called for holding on the runback.
and I know that coming back to win should be the primary concern right now, but I can't help thinking that after the South Carolina game and USC's early season domination of Arkansas (50-14), Auburn will be hard pressed to hang onto a #2 ranking after this game even if they do win.

Auburn fumbles, but recovers, on first down. second and 12.
pass to Courtney Taylor crossing to the middle for a ten-yard gain.
Brad Lester runs off tackle right for the first down.

gamebreak shows that Wake Forest leads Clemson. go Demon Deacons.

very nice, determined run left (through a pretty clogged line) for 19 yards by Lester gets the crowd back into the game.

over the top pass to Rod Smith to the left corner for another Auburn first down.

after a tough no-gain run to the middle, Arkansas' db Richardson and Auburn's Rod Smith trade headslaps and offsetting unnecessary roughness penalties.

pass for first down. another run up the middle for little or no gain.
ugly bootleg screen to Courtney Taylor to the left loses three so the quarter ends with Auburn facing third and long (15?) from the Arkansas 25.

impressionism (2)

yo la tengo's ira kaplan at the Landmark Loew's Theatre, Jersey City, NJ, 9/29/06

coughing up oysters

perfectly descriptive and perfectly disgusting.

pics from last Friday's Yo La Tengo show at the Landmark Loew's coming soon.

I call shenanigans

inside of three hours from now will mark the one-week anniversary of my cold, flu, whatever. and while I'm better (relatively, say, compared to last Monday or Tuesday), I'm in no way "good."

and what happens (if you let it) when you have such an extended run of illness is that all manner of amateur physicians will step forward with potential cures.
for instance, in the past two days I have ingested Alka-Seltzer Plus, the rumored "non-drowsy" daytime formula (which is where I'm calling shenanigans). the medicines came from two different sources.

on Friday afternoon I drank something pink (cherry flavored?) and on Saturday evening it was the citrus flavor (resembled a Fresca).

and before everything was said and done on Friday I left work early, returned home and napped for almost three hours, despite the presence of construction workers (and their hammers and bandsaws) on the floor above.

last night I made it through approximately 37 minutes of Sir Carol Reed's Our Man in Havana (starring Alec Guiness) before the "non-drowsy" formula laid the smackdown. I woke ten and a half hours later feeling, well, pretty much like I did on Friday before I took the first dose.

first song of the day: Lambchop's "The Decline of Country and Western Civilization" from Damaged (available at eMusic)