Our man Mike Watt‘s home safe and sound after a blast around the world as bassist for Iggy and the Stooges. Along the way, while helping to power the legendary band with his playing, he suffered a “knee-pop,” his term for a torn ACL/MCL and a harrowing episode at the Finnish Sonisphere festival. Now the story can be told, and Watt has “chimped” his tour diary on his hootpage. For a fan/critic’s point of view on the tour, check out the shining reviews from the NY Times and Chicago Tribune, or this great profile on Watt from the LA Times.
I would also recommend anyone into Watt’s spiel check out the program America’s Port on the National Geographic Channel. As a veteran of many trips around San Pedro on bicycle and even in a kayak with the man, this program answers many questions about the intense work that goes on in this busy port, the world’s biggest. Watt has told me about the pilots that board ships to guide them in, and I have asked my comical question about the fireboat (“Where does the water come from if there are no hydrants?”) every time we have gone by.
The great announcer Bob Sheppard has died, but I hope the “dignity of the Yankees” that Reggie Jackson refers to in the video (below) continues. He was a really great part of being a fan of the team, and as a New Yorker who lived in California for a while, I was able to tell a lot of people who’d never been to the Stadium about his legend. So many games. I really can’t help but think of the Giants football game, however, where he was admonishing the fans to stop throwing snowballs. It was one moment where you might have heard some emotion in his voice (he was very serious), but 175 fans were ejected that day too.
At a Staten Island Yankee game on Saturday night, John Souchack and I recalled many moments over the years, and not knowing the news that would come Sunday morning, included Bob Sheppard moments our discussion (along with Thurman, Celerino Sanchez, Aaron Small, Andre Robertson, Chien-Ming Wang, Claudell Washington and even Robert Merrill!). He was as much a part of the team as any player and in the countless tributes (I especially liked George Vecsey’s personality profile and Bill Madden’s extensive obit), writers have mentioned just a handful of mistakes during his 50+ years, about the same number of games he missed too.
The weathered walls of the Crescent City color Treme
Gumbo has many elements in small amounts, right? HBO’s Treme, a drama set in post-Katrina New Orleans, which just completed its first season, used music to bring authenticity to the show, and it did so in JazzFest-sized amounts (huge/never enough). It seems people from the great WWOZ, central to the musical identity of the most musical city on earth, also dig the show. If it’s good for WWOZ, it’s good for all of us.
It was so loaded with music that the only question might be, “what did they leave out?” In an early episode, Elvis Costello tolerates being rolled up on by part-time musician and WWOZ dj Davis, and it didn’t stop there. Kermit Ruffins played himself and was key to the Antoine Batiste plot line. Every episode had a few great cameos, culminating with Irma Thomas playing poker backstage and Allen Toussaint in the studio.
I told you baseball season was getting interesting. Here’s Cubs Manager, Lou Piniella, who I have been a fan of since was a great player on the Yankees in the 70s, a manager in the 80s and then with the Reds, Mariners, Rays and Cubs. As he points out in the interview below, he [...]
The first African World Cup has begun (actually the first game is at 10am NY time on Friday – South Africa vs. Mexico). For more info on when the games are on in your time zone, check out FIFA’s page here.
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