Baby I'm Not Trying to Make Amends For Coming to Los Angeles (No More Boston)

(Counting Crows, Los Angeles)

It is a dark day for Red Sox Nation.

When the Sox dealt Nomar back in 2004, he wasn't the same player he once was, and they did, of course, go on to win the World Series that year, so who can argue with anything they did that season? After that season, they cut the cord on Pedro, which seemed like an insane move at the time (except for the money factor), but in hindsight really was a great move for them, because he's been injury-plagued ever since, and hasn't really regained any of what he had during his heyday in Boston. Derek Lowe, Billy Mueller, and Orlando Cabrera all saw Boston in their rearview as well shortly thereafter. Even former manager Grady Little was gone (after the 2003 playoff debacle), though not too many people really missed him all that much.

The strange thing is, all of those guys except Pedro ended up in Los Angeles, and all but Cabrera ended up on the Dodgers (Cabrera went to the Angels). When we lived in LA, I would occasionally go to Dodger games with Josh, Jeremy, Jason, and a few other people whose names didn't start with J, and it felt natural for me to wear my Red Sox hat to Dodger Stadium, since we had fielded so much of their team for them. In fact, I even got yelled at once in the bleachers, while I was there with my sister, and when some drunk guy told me to "Go back to Boston, buddy!", I calmly (maybe not so calmly) responded, "Hey, we gave you half of your team!" He just shrugged his shoulders and sat back down.

Well, today the tradition continues. Manny Ramirez, the embattled, dreadlocked, power hitting, (possibly) clinically insane, RBI machine, protector of David Ortiz's strike zone, has finally been traded. To the Dodgers. As if it had been scripted. Sure, he's been asking for a trade for years now, but he usually forgets about that a few weeks later, and knocks in 50 more runs before the season ends. It did seem like an inevitability this time around, but I was still holding on to a little bit of hope that maybe this would blow over and he'd keep high-fiving fans while catching fly balls, before gunning out a runner from left-fucking-field. Seriously. Watch this video. It's awesome.

This is what we're losing. We're also losing, indirectly, the potency of Big Papi's bat, because without Manny hitting behind him, he's going to be walking to first on a much more frequent basis.

The only real silver lining to this would be, now that Manny's in LA, if they finally make a movie about him, like I've been saying for years, if they get Donald Faison to play him. They might as well be brothers, or at least cousins. Right?

I'm Passing Sleeping Cities, Fading By Degrees, Not Believing All I See To Be So

(Tom Petty, Saving Grace)

It's been over a month since I last posted. Incredibly, this was brought to my attention by more than one person in the past few days. Even more incredibly, none of those people were my parents.

Let's take a quick look back at the past 5-6 weeks in a little segment I like to call: "The Highlights." (I never said it would be clever.)

• I spent a few days in New York, which included meeting my cousin's newborn baby (adorable), eating at one of Bobby Flay's restaurants (delicious), wandering aimlessly around Manhattan (I walked past Ryan Adams on Bleeker Street!), and catching up with some old friends at the illustrious Grassroots. Downside? For some reason, Grassroots no longer has Bruce Springsteen's Greatest Hits on the jukebox. Pour some out for 3803 (Badlands). Very depressing.



• Amanda returned from Israel. What this means, aside from the fact that I was incredibly happy to have her home, is that I did a serious amount of cleaning, including both dry AND wet swiffers.



• Our friends Seth and Miriam got married. The wedding was here in Atlanta, which was awesome, because we didn't have to buy plane tickets or hotel rooms. Also, it was a ridiculously good time.



• Our nation turned 232 years old. Doesn't look a day over 197, if you ask me. We celebrated by going to three cookouts in one afternoon. Remind me not to do that again.



• We saw Tom Petty and Steve Winwood in concert. Wow. Amazing show. Petty played like one new song, the rest were his older hits, which means he knows exactly why people are coming to see him after all these years. The highlights were "Don't Come Around Here No More," "Gimme Some Lovin" (with Winwood on vocals and keyboards - awesome!), and when some drunk chick started talking to me like she knew me, and continued doing so even though I was staring at her like she had just grown a third arm out of her head.



• My sister got engaged! Congratulations to Michelle and Justin. Just remember - nothing guarantees a fun wedding like an open bar.



• Five days at the beach in Gulf Shores with a bunch of friends from the LBC. I'm not a huge beach person - I much prefer a pool (not big on sand) - but man, that was relaxing. I was probably ready to leave by the time we left, but it would be great to take a short trip like that twice a year or so. I also got a Goddaughter, which makes me, that's right, the Godfather. Don't think I haven't had way too much fun with that. Because I have. More fun than a person should be allowed.



• The Dark Knight solidified its place as the most anticipated movie of the summer that completely lived up to its hype. I can't even describe how much I liked it, especially without seeing it again, which I think might have to happen soon. Without trying to sound like every single movie reviewer (and failing miserably), Heath Ledger deserved every bit of praise for his Joker role as he's been getting. Such a disturbing plot, and sharp commentary on current political situations. Just awesome.



• And last, but certainly not least, our friends Jeff & Kristin's son Jake, born an astonishing 12 weeks premature, has been not only plugging along like a trooper, but absolutely thriving - he is getting larger and stronger by the day, and is looking adorable beyond measure. I am by no means a very religious man, however this kid's short but strong history points squarely toward the work of a higher power.
  

Well, that about sums it up. For the two or three of you who have missed me, and for Mom and Dad, I'll try to be a bit more regular with my posts.