Frankie Frisch: Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1947

Born: September 9, 1898

1916: Entered Fordham; left for NY Giants

Debut: June 17, 1919 (Giants)

1921: Named team captain

1921: Giants won World Series

1922: Giants won World Series

1923: Moved to 2b full time

1923: Giants won Pennant (Lost World Series to Yankees)

1924: Giants won Pennant (Lost World Series to Senators)

1926: Traded to Cardinals

1928: Cardinals won Pennant (Lost World Series to Yankees)

1930: Cardinals won Pennant (Lost World Series to A’s)

1931: NL MVP

1931: Cardinals won World Series

1933: Became Cardinals Player/Manager (458-354 record,.564, 1 World Championship)

1934: Cardinals won World Series

1937: Retired as a player

1938: Final year as Cardinal manager

1940-1946: Managed Pirates (539-528 record)

1947: Elected to Hall of Fame

1949-1951: Managed Cubs (141-196)

1950s: Worked radio

1956: Suffered heart attack

1950s-60s: Joined HOF Veteran’s Committee

Died: March 12, 1973 from injuries in a car crash

1999: Nominated for All Century Team

Accomplishments:
4x World Champion

3x All Star

1931 NL MVP

.316 average

105 home runs

1244 RBI

1532 runs

2880 hits

466 doubles

138 triples

419 stolen bases

728 walks-272 strikeouts

100+ Runs: 7x

Led league in runs (121): 1924

200+ hits: 3x

Led league in hits (223): 1923

30+ doubles: 8x

40+ doubles: 2x

10+ triples: 7x

100+ RBI: 3x

Led league in steals: 3x

20+ steals: 11x

30+ steals: 4x

Hit .300: 13x

.407 OBP: 1930

.520 slugging: 1930

300 TB: 2x

Led league in TB (311): 1923

Postseason: .294, 0 HR, 10 RBI, .711 OPS, 9 SB (8 World Series)

Managerial Record: 1138-1078 (.514): 1 Pennant and World Championship

Carl Hubbell: Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 1947

Born: June 22, 1903

1926: Signed by Detroit Tigers and released

1928: Discovered by a Giants scout after the Tigers rebuffed him again

Debut: July 26, 1928 (New York Giants)

1929: No Hit the Pirates

1933-1937: Won 20 or more games each season

1933: Pitched 18 inning shutout

1933: Giants win World Series

1933: NL MVP

1934: Struck out five Hall of Famers in succession in All Star Game

1936-37: Won 24 consecutive games (ML Record)

1936: Giants win pennant (Lose WS to Yankees)

1936: NL MVP

1937: Giants win pennant (Lose WS to Yankees)

1943: Retired

1944: Giants retire his #11

1947: Elected to Hall of Fame

1988: Died (Auto accident)

1999: Finalist for All Century Team

Accomplishments:
243-154 Record

1933 World Champion

2x MVP

9x All Star

Struck out 5 straight HOFers in 1934 ASG

No hitter (1929)

24 consecutive wins (ML Record)

18 inning shutout

2.98 ERA

36 shutouts

3590.1 IP

1.166 WHIP

15+ wins: 8x

20+ wins: 5x

Led league in wins: 3x

Led league in win %: 2x

Sub 3 ERA: 6x

Sub 2.50 ERA: 3x

1.66 ERA (1933)

3x ERA Champ

10+ CG: 14x

15+ CG: 9x

20+ CG: 6x

Led league in CG (25): 1934

Led league in SHO (10): 1934

200+ IP: 10x

250+ IP: 7x

300+ IP: 4x

Led league in IP: 1933 (308.2)

1677 strikeouts

Led league in strikeouts (159): 1937

Led league in WHIP: 6x

1.000 WHIP or less: 1933 (0.982)

Postseason: 4-2, 1.79 ERA, 6 starts (3 World Series)

The 200 Greatest Albums of All Time: "S" Artists part II

Stand!: Sly and the Family Stone (1969)
Sly is one of music’s most talented individuals. Unfortunately, no one remembers him. Stand! represented Sly and the Family Stones’ breakthrough. The album represents not only the band’s peak, but also one of the most creative albums ever recorded.

Key Tracks:
Everyday People
Stand!
I Want to Take You Higher

There’s a Riot Going On: Sly and the Family Stone (1971)
Sly abandoned the formula, which made Stand! a success. With Riot, he took the band in a darker, funkier direction. At first, people were not sure what to make of the album. Over time, critics and fans have embraced it as a classic.

Key Tracks:
Family Affair
Runnin’ Away
Thank You For Takin’ Me to Africa

Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness: Smashing Pumpkins (1995)
Billy Corgan hoped to make his generation’s The Wall. The result was a platinum album nine times over. Supposedly, the album’s two sides represent day and night. However, Corgan later claimed Mellon Collie was not a concept record and tied together loosely.

Key Tracks:
Tonight, Tonight
Bullet with Butterfly Wings
1979

Horses: Patti Smith (1975)
Smith emerged from the New York punk scene that produced Blondie, The Ramones, and others. Horses pulls together personal experiences and some cover songs to complete its package. Smith’s album later influenced a number of artists ranging from Michael Stipe to Siouxsie and the Banshees to Morrissey to Sammy Hagar.

Key Tracks:
Gloria
Land
Redondo Beach

Superunknown: Soundgarden (1994)
Soundgarden changed their sound for 1994’s Superunknown. They culled a number of inspirations together to create an album and sound critics compared to The Beatles.

Key Tracks:
Fell on Black Days
Black Hole Sun
Spoonman
The Day I Tried to Live

Sci Fi History: King Kong (1933)

King Kong first appeared in the 1933 film of the same name. The film pioneered stop motion photography, animatronics, and other special effects. King Kong is iconic for more than special effects. Skull Island, giant animals, the climb to the top of the Empire State Building, and the shockingly cruel death connected with audiences. The film led to sequels and remakes in 1976 and 2005. During World War I, the U.S. used Kong’s image to represent the Germans. Perhaps the most interesting take came from the Japanese whom matched Kong with Godzilla in a mega fauna death match. In the Japanese release, Godzilla wins. In America, Kong is the victor.

The finale:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grMo5-2Y5oc

Top 200 Albums of All Time: S Artists part 1

Never Mind the Bullocks: The Sex Pistols (1977)
The Sex Pistols took punk confrontation to its logical conclusion in 1977. The combat boot wearing spike haired band defined the movement socially, musically, and cosmetically. The band professed anarchy and dissed the queen scaring some record companies and fans. The punk music as a whole confused most people. After all, why would fans want to be spit on?

Key Tracks:
God Save the Queen
Anarchy in the U.K.
Pretty Vacant

Graceland: Paul Simon (1986)
Hard to believe Graceland is 25 years old. The album includes South African influences essentially merging Simon’s personal beliefs, humor, and South African culture. It also provided the classic “You Can Call Me Al.”

Key Tracks:
Graceland
You Can Call Me Al
All Around the World of the Myth of Fingerprints

Bridge Over Troubled Water: Simon and Garfunkel (1970)
Simon and Garfunkel released one of the last albums to close the sixties and open the seventies. They captured a time and place on vinyl, which is why it connected. Like the next entry does for 1992, Bridge Over Troubled Water provides a time capsule to 1970.

Key Tracks:
Bridge Over Troubled Water
El Condor Pasa (If I Could)
Cecilia
The Boxer

Singles: Soundtrack (1992)
If you want to understand 1992, then listen to the Singles soundtrack. The album is loaded with so-called grunge artists as well as classic rockers like Hendrix and Heart. Singles explains disillusionment, youth, and hope that permeated the period and Bill Clinton tapped.

Key Tracks:
Would? (Alice in Chains)
Breath (Pearl Jam)
Chloe Dancer/Crown of Thorns (Mother Love Bone)
State of Love and Trust (Pearl Jam)
Waiting for Somebody (Paul Westerberg)
Nearly Lost You (Screaming Trees)

Reign in Blood: Slayer (1986)
In 1986, Slayer released the Trash Metal classic Reign in Blood. The album lasts about a half an hour, but fills the listener with Slayer’s brutality. This is the album to listen to if one wants to understand thrash and compare it to classic metal or hair metal.

Key Tracks:
Angel of Death
Raining Blood

History Shorts: The Bible is written

The Bible is a collection of religious stories compiled into one text. It includes the Hebrew Bible, which represents the Old Testament and the Christian texts that make up the New Testament. The New Testament was written by a number of authors between 50 and 150 A.D. Later, the church decided which books to include and exclude. Since the Bible’s conception, it has served to govern nations, inspire believers, and inform church doctrine. It’s also a masterpiece of literature.

The following clips deal with the Bible and pop culture’s take on the book.

Who Wrote the Bible:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suseKsLEWKo

Mel Brooks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TAtRCJIqnk

Charlton Heston:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7dFrzrjSRg

Noah’s Ark:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2M6VKgyz8eI

The Sermon on the Mount:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDCbJ4vnMNg

Jesus Christ Superstar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvVr2uks0C8

Superman as a Christ figure:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3keuiWzY-Q



　

Sci Fi History: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

The film version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde debuted prior to the adoption of modern movie production codes. It included strong sexual content and needed editing before its re-release. This version heavily influenced the look of Mr. Hyde in subsequent examinations. The producers wanted Hyde to embody evil and gave him canine teeth and a more ape-like appearance to make him “less evolved.”

The main themes of Jekyll and Hyde involve the dichotomy between good and evil. It also explores civilization vs. barbarism and evolution. The characters later inspired The Incredible Hulk, Batman’s nemesis, Two-Face, and The Who‘s Quadrophenia.

Top 200 Albums of All Time: Rush

2112: Rush (1976)

Rush explored a future dystopia set in the year 2112. The album is broken up into seven parts furthering the storyline. In the future world, the government determines what people can read, think, and listen to. Rock n Roll does not exist until a man discovers a guitar and learns to play it. The man commits suicide after the High Priests of the Temples of Sphinx destroy the guitar. His martyrdom sets off a revolution with an ambiguous ending.

Ironically, critics attacked 2112 for being fascist. Somehow, a man fighting for his art and freedom represented fascism. In reality, these critics may have recognized a conservative critique of progressive governments resulting in the backlash.

Moving Pictures: Rush (1981)

Rush moved into the mainstream in 1980 with Permanent Waves. They followed the formula in 1981 with Moving Pictures. The album remains the band’s best selling album and includes the iconic tracks “Limelight” and “Tom Sawyer”. The songs remain radio favorites thirty years later.

Key Tracks:
Tom Sawyer
Red Barchetta
YYZ
Limelight

Top 200 Albums of All Time: Run DMC

Raising Hell: Run DMC (1986)
Run DMC broke into the mainstream and demonstrated Hip Hop’s viability with Raising Hell. The album featured the collaboration with Aerosmith on the “Walk This Way” cover. “Walk This Way” became the first rap song to make it into the Top 5 setting the stage for the genre’s future success. It also paved the way for Nu Metal, which emerged in the early 90s and became a force in the early 00s before fading. Without the success of “Walk This Way” and Raising Hell, Hip Hop might not have broken into the mainstream.

Key Tracks:
It’s Tricky
Walk this Way
You Be Illin’

History Shorts: The Year of Four Emperors (69 A.D.)

Romans had enough of the self absorbed emperor-cum-artist Nero. The Senate declared him an outlaw and Nero committed suicide rather than be executed in grisly fashion. What followed was a succession of coups. The end result was a year with four emperors. By July 69, Vespasian emerged from the bloodletting to settle the empire and reestablish good government. He reigned for a decade.

The first clip is a description of events. The second is a clip of Galba. The third is a clip of Nero acting a bit loopy. The last clip is Nero singing…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6toq1lYcO4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5Qz7b12344

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cETzMxRqDwY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBIswXv28GI

Top 200 Albums of All Time: The Rolling Stones

Aftermath: The Rolling Stones (1966)

The Rolling Stones’ sixth album represented a major breakthrough for the band. It marked the first time the Stones did not cover any songs. Every track was a Jagger/Richards composition. It is also notable for the inclusion of a variety of non-rock instruments such as the sitar, dulcimer, and xylophone.

Key Tracks:
Paint It Black
Under My Thumb
Lady Jane

Beggar’s Banquet: The Rolling Stones (1968)

The Stones abandoned the psychedelic and returned to their primal roots with Beggar’s Banquet. Fans and critics enjoyed the return to form for the band. In December, the Stones filmed The Rolling Stones Rock n Roll Circus to promote the album. The film included John Lennon, The Who, Jethro Tull, and Eric Clapton, but was not released until 1996.

Key Tracks:
Sympathy for the Devil
Street Fighting Man
Salt of the Earth

Let if Bleed: The Rolling Stones (1969)

Mick Jagger lists Let It Bleed as his favorite Stones album. The record is the last with Brian Jones and first with Mick Taylor. This album captured the period’s zeitgeist. It is infused with a feeling of impending doom. In fact, the day after it was released, the Stones held the Altamont Free Concert.

Key Tracks:
Gimme Shelter
Midnight Rambler
Monkey Man
You Can’t Always Get What You Want

Sticky Fingers: The Rolling Stones (1971)

The Stones eleventh album, Sticky Fingers, is a soundtrack to the early 1970s as well as many a gangster film. It is dark and autobiographical. Sticky Fingers marks Mick Taylor’s official full album debut after replacing the late Brian Jones. The album’s cover created some controversy as it featured a male crotch. Overall, Sticky Fingers represents what rock n roll.

Key Tracks:
Brown Sugar
Can’t You Hear Me Knocking
Bitch
Sister Morphine
Dead Flowers

Exile on Main St.: The Rolling Stones (1972)

There is a consensus that Exile is the Stones finest effort. Keith Richards claimed that the double album hit many different areas and the band felt like exiles at the time. It also marked the point at which the Stones decided they were big enough to do whatever they wanted. For his part, Jagger does not count Exile as one of his favorites. He believes its success lies in the whole, “I'm not too sure how great the songs are, but put together it's a nice piece.”

Key Tracks:
Tumbling Dice
Rip this Joint
Sweet Virginia
Happy
Ventilator Blues

Tattoo You: The Rolling Stones (1981)

Although they continued to produce hit records, Tattoo You remains the Rolling Stones last #1 studio album. Many of the songs were outtakes and leftovers from the previous decade. According to Richards, the Stones felt the urge to tour and did not have the time to write new material. The result was an extremely popular record among fans and critics alike.

Key Tracks:
Start Me Up
Hang Fire
Waiting on a Friend

Sports Quotes of the Year: 2011

No order...

“We got disrespected so our gangsters went out and zipped them up.”

-A Xavier Basketball player after a brawl with Cincinnati

“But I think it does show courage from the kids, standing out and doing that, and some boldness.’’

-Tim Tebow on protests over the suspension of two students for “Tebowing.”

"I love that Jeanie Buss' boy toy had something to say about us. I don't know if it was his thought or Jeanie's thought, but it's nice to know that she lets him speak in public about other teams."

-Mark Cuban

“Crazy. Karma is a b—-.. Gets you every time. Its not good to wish bad on anybody. God sees everything!”

-LeBron James after the Cavs 55 point loss to the Lakers

“LeBron James: How is that karma thing working out?”

-The Cleveland Plain Dealer after James got injured

“I take my hat off to myself.”

-Carmelo Anthony

“I’m just hopeful the coach doesn’t dismiss me.”

-OSU President E. Gordon Gee

“That’s the world of prostitution. You never know what you’re going to get.”

-Lawrence Taylor

“Take the vehicle. I have 10 more.”

-Allen Iverson after the police pulled his Lamborghini over.

"We want to make sure that he's really retired first."

- Packers on waiting to retire Bret Favre's #4.

"Buster is laying in front of home plate, and it's like having a disabled car in the middle of a four-lane highway. You're just going to get smacked."

Johnny Bench on the Buster Posey collision

"I ask guys all the time: Guys with blue eyes, brown eyes, whatever ... and guys with blue eyes have a tough time [during the day]."

-Josh Hamilton

"Money is cool and all but I'm only 23, I have a lot of time to make that."

-Christian Lopez after catching Derek Jeter’s 3000^th hit

“We don’t pay him to run. We pay him to trot.”

-Jim Leyland on Miguel Cabrera

“Stats are for losers and rings are for champions.”

-Darren McCarty

“National League pitchers are stupid.”

-Mitch Williams on why they pitch to Ryan Howard

“Kobe, five championships; LeBron, zero.”

-Magic Johnson

"If we were trying to run a regular offense, he'd be screwed."

-Broncos coach John Fox on Tim Tebow

“When I’ll consider myself a dirty player is when my mom tells me.”

-Ndamukong Suh

Political Quotes of the Year: 2011

In no particular order...

“The Obama agenda is over.”

-Mitch McConnell

“Death to the dictator.”

-Iranian Protestors

“Go get a job right after you take a bath.”

-Newt Gingrich to OWS

“I’m a devout Catholic and I honor my faith and love it . . . but they have this conscience thing.”

-Nancy Pelosi

“What the hell are we paying you for?”

-Chris Christie to President Obama

“The Taliban, per se, is not the enemy.”

-Joe Biden

“It was a meeting of the world’s most powerful communist and the president of China.”

-Craig Ferguson on the Chinese President’s White House visit

“Good evening. Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaida, and a terrorist who's responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.”

-Barack Obama


"Osama always loved Snooki’s hair poof. He called it nature’s turban.”

-Jimmy Kimmel

“With allies like that, who needs the left?”

-Paul Ryan on Newt Gingrich

“I did not sext Anthony Weiner.”

-Ginger Lee

"Obama is the most successful food stamp president in American History.”

-Newt Gingrich

Best on-air exchange:

“Do you have a degree in economics?”

-Contessa Brewer to Congressman Mo Brooks

“Yes mam, I do. Highest honors.”

-Mo Brooks to Contessa Brewer

“This would be easier if I could do this on my own.”

-Barack Obama wishing he were dictator?

"This economic mandate represents a wholly novel and potentially unbounded assertion of congressional authority: the ability to compel Americans to purchase an expensive health insurance product they have elected not to buy, and to make them re-purchase that insurance product every month for their entire lives."

-11^th Circuit Court on Obamacare’s Individual Mandate

"Socrates taught that wisdom begins in the recognition of how little we know. Mr. Obama is perpetually intent on telling us how much he knows. Aristotle wrote that the type of intelligence most needed in politics is prudence, which in turn requires experience. Mr. Obama came to office with no experience. Plutarch warned that flattery "makes itself an obstacle and pestilence to great houses and great affairs." Today's White House, more so than any in memory, is stuffed with flatterers.”

“Stupid is as stupid does, said the great philosopher Forrest Gump. The presidency of Barack Obama is a case study in stupid does.”

-Bret Stephens WSJ

"POTUS has played more golf this month than I have: I have created more jobs this month than he has.”

-Professional Golfer Paul Azinger

“It's deeply bizarre and deeply creepy.”

-State Department Victoria Nuland on Moammar Gadhafi’s obsession with Condi Rice

“My neighbor’s two dogs have created more shovel-ready projects than this current administration.”

-Former N.M. Governor Gary Johnson on the Stimulus

"We’re the country that built the Intercontinental Railroad."

-Barack Obama (he meant transcontinental).

“If asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a Jew, uh, as a janitor makes me a warrior for the working class, I wear that with a badge of honor. I have no problem with that.”

-Barack Obama confusing Jews and Janitors

"I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won't hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover."

-Governor Bev Perdue

OBAMA: "I can see the unemployment line from my house!"

-Ann Coulter

'President Obama, This Is Your Army. We Are Ready to March. Let's Take These Son of Bitches Out'

-James Hoffa

"Murder will continue to rise. Rape will continue to rise. All crime will continue to rise."

-Joe Biden on what would happen if the Jobs Bill fails

“We want sweeping unspecified change.”

- A sign in the Occupy Wall Street protests

“I left the Democratic plantation a long time ago.”

-Herman Cain

"After nearly nine years, America's war in Iraq will be over."

-Barack Obama

“All my people love me.”

-Moamer Gadhafi

“Do you know right from wrong?”

-Moammar Khadafy (last words)

“We came. We saw. He died.”

-Hillary Clinton celebrating Khadafy’s death

Quotes of the Year: 2011

Quote of the Year:

“Daniel Craig’s my Wookie bitch now!”

-Harrison Ford to Chewbacca

Stupid Quote of the Year:

“I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president — with the possible exceptions of Johnson, F.D.R., and Lincoln — just in terms of what we’ve gotten done in modern history.”

-Barack Obama

Meltdown of the Year:

“It's no longer acceptable in mixed company -- meaning bipartisan company -- to use the goddamn word 'climate.' And some of the exact same people — I can go down a list of their names — are involved in this. And so what do they do? They pay pseudo-scientists to pretend to be scientists to put out the message: ‘This climate thing, it’s nonsense. Man-made CO2 doesn’t trap heat. It may be volcanoes.’ Bullshit! ‘It may be sun spots.’ Bullshit! ‘It’s not getting warmer.’ Bullshit!

-Al Gore

Twilight Zone Quote of the Year:

"Dreamt I died in Chicago next weekend (heart attack in my sleep). Need to write my will today."

-Former Weezer Bassist Mikey Welsh one week before he suddenly died.
　

And the rest:

“Interesting though, as we evolve and realize our social prejudices are unacceptable, we are finding new groups to hate.”

-Simon Pegg

“You spend your life fighting the spread of evil. Then you learn a Kardashian is pregnant.”

-Batman

“Ironically, the best defense against a zombie uprising would be a robot army.”

-Grant Imahara

“If Charlie Sheen outlives me, I’m gonna be really pissed.”

-Chuck Lorre

"They picked a fight with a warlock."

-Charlie Sheen on his feud with CBS

“Winning.”

-Charlie Sheen

"There are not any plans to erect a statue to RoboCop. Thank you for your suggestion."

-Detroit Mayor Dave Bing

"God didn't create all men equal, Smith and Wesson did."

-Top Shot

“I for one welcome our new computer overlords.”

-Ken Jennings

"I never hugged him, I bombed him."

-Margaret Thatcher

“Who wants to go to Europe. It’s not Detroit.”

-Jalen Rose

"They say I have no hits and I'm difficult to work with. And they say that like it's a bad thing."

-Tom Waits

“People like crap.”

-Getty Lee on popular music

“Will the universe end? many ask. Yes. Not with a bang but a whimper. Not in fire, but in ice. Not in light, but in darkness.”

-Neil deGrasse Tyson

"Why don't you just arrest me?"

-Nicholas Cage to police

"I'm now at the "happiest place on earth". And I'm not happy about it.”

-Brent Spiner

“Clarence doesn't leave the E Street Band when he dies. He leaves when we die.”

-Bruce Springsteen

"As far as I'm concerned, Betty Ford saved my life."

-Stevie Nicks

"To our Fans and Friends: As R.E.M., and as lifelong friends and co-conspirators, we have decided to call it a day as a band …”

-R.E.M.

“It’s hard to accept being liked.”

-Andy Rooney

“This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.”

-Joe Paterno

Top 200 Albums of All Time: R.E.M.

Murmur: REM (1983)
Fans joked that Murmur should have been titled mumble. The album introduced the world to Michael Stipe’s cryptic and at times undecipherable lyrics and Peter Buck’s jangly guitar sound. The album helped kick off college rock and began the steady build to the alternative revolution of the early 1990s.

Key Tracks:
Radio Free Europe
Talk About the Passion
Perfect Circle
Pilgrimage

Document: REM (1987)
R.E.M. toyed with breaking through to the mainstream prior to Document. However, this album brought commercial success and a platinum certification. Despite the breakthrough with songs such as “The One I Love” and “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”, the band stayed true to itself with such tracks as “Welcome to the Occupation”, “Exhuming McCarthy”, and “Disturbance at the Heron House.”

Key Tracks:
Finest Worksong
Welcome to the Occupation
Disturbance at the Heron House
It’s The End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
The One I Love

Automatic for the People: REM (1992)
Out of Time made R.E.M. unlikely rock royalty. The band planned to follow up the folksy sounding multi-platinum monster with a rock album, but abandoned the project. Instead, they teamed with John Paul Jones to craft a subdued album based on mortality. The result, Automatic for the People, and its themes of lost youth and death, has stood up well over two decades and is one of the finest albums of the period.

Key Tracks:
Drive
Try Not to Breathe
Everybody Hurts
Man on the Moon
Nightswimming
Find the River

New Adventures in Hi-Fi: REM (1996)
After releasing their own “grunge” album with Monster, R.E.M. created perhaps the most underrated album in music history. Many of the songs were written and perfected while touring, which is perhaps why some of the tracks deal with travel. Interestingly, the album did not do as well as prior R.E.M. efforts. In hindsight, the decline of the record industry may have actually begun just prior to Napster and the download craze of the late 1990s.

Key Tracks:
Electrolite
Binky the Doormat
Bittersweet Me
E-Bow the Letter

Quotes of the Month: December 2011

Quote of the Month:

“You spend your life fighting the spread of evil. Then you learn a Kardashian is pregnant.”

-Batman

Stupid Quote of the Month:

“I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president — with the possible exceptions of Johnson, F.D.R., and Lincoln — just in terms of what we’ve gotten done in modern history.”

-Barack Obama

And the rest:

“I’m going to be the nominee.”

-Newt Gingrich

"I used to think being president was about having power. Now I know it's just a ceremonial position."

-Fred Armisen as Obama on SNL

"I love all karaoke singers. I like all the girl singers who get up and sing with tapes. Shame on you."

-Gene Simmons

“We got disrespected so our gangsters went out and zipped them up.”

-A Xavier Basketball player after a brawl with Cincinnati

“But I think it does show courage from the kids, standing out and doing that, and some boldness.’’

-Tim Tebow on protests over the suspension of two students for “Tebowing.”

“The Taliban, per se, is not the enemy.”

-Joe Biden