Miami!

Well, I've been in Miami since Tuesday evening, and it's been fun. Spent some time on South Beach, checked out the Everglades, went to a Marlins game. Today we're heading down to the Keys (I'm not sure which one yet, though I would like to go to Key West).

The Marlins game was fantastic. I'm sure you've never thought while watching on TV, "Wow, I'd love to see a baseball game at Dolphins Stadium, it looks so nice!". But it's a great place to watch a baseball game. While the crowd is small, it stays lively (as opposed to a Tampa Bay Devil Rays game, where the crowds are small and comatose). The night we went, the temperature was a perfect, though I can imagine it might get much too hot sometimes. We sat in the Outfield Reserved section (tickets there cost $14), and the view was good, we had a couple balls come our way (unfortunately they died at the track). In addition, there was an Edy's Ice Cream stand near our seat which sold pints of ice cream for $5 (which is cheaper than the hot dogs). With the crowd being lively when the attendence is under 10,000, I can only imagine the atmosphere with 30,000 people in the stands. Finally, my favorite part of the whole shebang was the big teal out of town scoreboard in left field. It's sort of like a smaller, "teal monster" or something. ZT approved...

All in all, Dolphins Stadium (at least for baseball) gets a 7/10...

NFL Picks, Week 4

Unencumbered Enthusiasm has been hard at work coming up with a theme song for NFL Picks (or, if you happen to be an announcer or pundit, National Football League Picks). But I simply haven’t anyone as completely inappropriate and ridiculous as NBC’s choice of Pink for their almost as ridiculously titled Football Night In America. Hey NBC, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim called, they want their syllables back (oh the irony of ZT criticizing others for wordiness…). But while the name and song have gone clunk, ZT finds himself almost convinced while watching FNIA, he’s watching Monday Night Football. Kudos to NBC for putting together a pretty good program, intro notwithstanding.

Other kudos go to Chris Collinsworth. I loved Collinsworth when he worked the booth for Fox, though I can imagine Joe Buck didn’t…now he’s doing a great job talking about football highlights. How long before he’s back in the booth? The thought that it could be only one turducken tragedy away has me slightly giddy.

In separate news, no one has responded to my idea for overtime reform. This is ludicrous. THIS IS THE GREATEST OVERTIME IDEA EVER…if it’s not in place by next week, ZT may quit watching football until the next Packer’s game.

Speaking of the Packers, Dave Rayner (MAKE IT RAAAAAYN!!!) and company notched their first win of the season last Sunday. Needless to say, I’m quite excited. And while it came against the lowly Lions, ZT is sure they’ll build on their success. Oh, and Favre haters can shove all 340 of those yards right up their asses…

As for my picks, well, this week was like the Milwaukee Brewers this season. Exciting for the first half, but then by September you realize they’re ten games under .500. For the early games, I went 6-2, but then took a beating in the later games, finally getting to a less than respectable 8-6. This is partially due to some boneheaded decisions, such as:

-Backing the NY Giants not only on the road, but on the road on the west coast…against the defending NFC champs. I think it might be because they have much cooler uniforms than the Seahawks’ monstrosities.

-Going against New Orleans. While I was watching this, Ann said to me, “you know, it’s probably rigged.” It didn’t have to be…just shoot me…

Anyways, this is how everyone in the Krogman-Halbach-Lehmann-Spilde Family Picks are doing:

1) Tim (10-4) 31-15
1) Todd (9-5) 31-15
3) Ann (12-2) 30-16
3) Shawna (10-4) 30-16
5) Adam (8-6) 29-17
6) Amy (6-8) 28-18
7) Jane (8-6) 26-20
7) ZT (8-6) 26-20
9) Renee (10-4) 25-21

So your faithful narrator stays just out of the basement once again. Whew…I could use one good week here though…Congratulations to Ann for winning the week, and to Todd and my dad for being in the top spot (for now).

As for this weeks picks…

Arizona at Atlanta

It looks like Arizona is still Arizona, and Atlanta probably threw the game last week.

ZT’s pick: Atlanta

Dallas at Tennessee

The night before I looked at this weeks picks, I had a dream Dallas was playing Tennessee. I had picked Dallas and was very frustrated as Dallas was incapable of doing anything right. Here’s the weird thing about it…the Dallas Cowboys were playing against the Tennessee Volunteers, but Vince Young was their quarterback. Regardless, normally I would pick Dallas in this situation, but a premonition is a premonition, and who am I to ignore it…

ZT’s pick: Tennessee

Indianapolis at NY Jets:

Now, the NY Jets are my sleeper pick for the year, but that doesn’t mean they’re an elite team. And we’re at least twelve weeks away before Archie Manning starts working on the Heimlich maneuver.

ZT’s pick: Indianapolis

Miami at Houston

I’ve made two solemn promises for the rest of my season. Never pick the team that was stupid enough to pass on Reggie Bush. Secondly, never pick the Dolphins. When these two collide, flip a coin.

ZT’s pick: Houston

Minnesota at Buffalo

It seems to happen every year, the Vikings sign a former Packer to their roster, usually a fan favorite. Two seasons ago it was Darren Sharper, this season it’s Ryan Longwell. Where does this strategy get them? Not far…so why the hell do they keep antagonizing me like this?

ZT’s pick: Minnesota

New Orleans at Carolina

Is it just me, or does New Orleans just look like a solid football team this year? They got the steal of the season in Drew Brees, and they got the real #1 pick in Reggie Bush. Plus they got all kinds of karma on their side. The only thing you hear coming out of Carolina is “disappointing”. Sign me up for the New Orleans bandwagon.

ZT’s pick: New Orleans

San Diego at Baltimore

I’m still having a hard time believing that San Diego is this good. But I can believe that Baltimore had a pretty easy schedule to start and got pretty lucky against Cleveland. Plus San Diego’s coming off an emotional victory over the bye week. Baltimore’s gonna get crushed in this one.

ZT’s pick: San Diego

San Francisco at Kansas City

San Francisco is looking frisky enough to maybe go 8-8…Kansas City looks like they would prefer if the season ended today…

ZT’s pick: San Francisco

Detroit at St. Louis

Once upon a time, ZT stopped in St. Louis for some sightseeing on his home from Mardi Gras. It was pretty sweet, we got some bagels, went to the top of some random building and went up in the arch. While at the top of the arch, I saw the Whatever It’s Called Now Dome (Edward Jones maybe?). It was called the TWA Dome, but we all know what happened to TWA…Anyways, they had just whitewashed the TWA on the roof, but the name was still slightly visible and outlined in lights. I find these moments quite hilarious. There are few things as good for unintentional comedy as corporate vanity pasting themselves on sporting venues (just ask Enron Field).

ZT’s pick: St. Louis

Cleveland at Oakland

I remember some pretty bad Packers teams form the pre-Favre era. I remember that no matter how bad the Packers were, at least they could always beat the Buccaneers. Well congratulations Cleveland, at least you can beat the Raiders.

ZT’s pick: Cleveland

Jacksonville at Washington

I’m afraid that upon discovering that Jacksonville is good at football, they’ll end up being bad at football just in time for me to pick them. However, Washington is pretty bad a football, no matter what happens…

ZT’s pick: Jacksonville

New England at Cincinnati

New England looks dead. Yet another team destroyed by their own hubris. They just let veteran after veteran go, thinking, we don’t need players, we just need the team. Unfortunately, a Porsche with Hyundai engine is not a Porsche.

ZT’s pick: Cincinnati

Seattle at Chicago

Everyone in the KHLS Family Picks is going for Seattle in this one, but I chose Chicago because they actually scored touchdowns in their first two games. Seattle’s dismantling of the Giants last week will be a harbinger of how weak New York is, rather than how good Seattle is.

ZT’s pick: Chicago

Green Bay at Philadelphia

ZT is still waiting for retribution for 4^th and 26, and he thinks it’s coming on October 2, 2006…

ZT’s pick: Green Bay

Yay football!

Current Favorites

After he held up a copy of Noam Chomsky’s book, I was a bit remorseful due to the fact that Hugo Chavez and I hadn’t kept better relations. Perhaps then, Unencumbered Enthusiasm would be on the world’s mind. But alas, I don’t write left wing literature, I write fantastic literature…or at least my mother says so (hi mom!). And no one can account for Mr. Chavez’s taste (though he did say I was his numba one blogga).

So what else can a poor ZT do, ‘cept keep writing Current Favorites for the fans? Well, not much else…I mean, there’s only so much you can do on a three hour car ride…without further ado…

Music:

The Fiery Furnaces Blueberry Boat – I don’t remember the last time I had this much fun listening to an album. Blueberry Boat uncovers surprises with each listen, and always finds a way to stay interesting through its 76 minute runtime. Which is saying something, ZT hates albums that gas on far too long. I usually put the cap at about 55 minutes with little exception. But Blueberry Boat never feels this long. In fact, when it’s over, I’m ready for more. That being said, the only thing missing from Blueberry Boat is an emotional punch that would make it a truly memorable, pantheon level album. Which is the central problem of the whole thing: Blueberry Boat’s gimmicky nature makes for fun listening, but also undermines its gravitas. Which means it’s a great album, but not a Great album. 9/10 (Top 3 Tracks: “My Dog Was Lost But Now Is Found”, “Paw Paw Tree”, “Chief Inspector Blancheflower”)

Movies:

Snakes on a Plane: One of the more ridiculous movies ever made…and everything I ever hoped a movie called “Snakes on a Plane” could be and more. That being said, I will only see this movie once…the most solid 6/10, ever.

Paradise Now: Great movie with a fantastic ending. I’m not sure how accurate it was, but it was interesting to get a glimpse at life inside of Palestine as well as realizing how difficult it is to carry out a suicide bomb mission. 8/10

Books:

ZT’s was recommended “Lupus: The First Year” but he has been unable to get it at the book store, so I’ll probably buy it from Amazon.

And remember, all of you are a 10/10…

On the Road Again

Well, I missed a couple of things there, didn’t I hey? Well, I’m on vacation now don’t cha know and I’m heading back to Wisconsin. So I had lots of things to pack, but now I’m in a car with not much to do, so I figure I ought to get caught up. So stay tuned for some Current Favorites and the regularly scheduled Krogman 25.

In addition, I’m looking for something to replace the old Top Ten Albums feature. I think I’ll do something like Top Ten Movies or maybe do some other sort of list like that, so there’s something to look forward to. But look for that to be live and coming at you October 8^th.

Till then, happy livin’.

Wisconsin-Michigan Game Diary

Wisconsin versus Michigan is always an exciting game, and it’s upon us already, and it’s only September. And, lo and behold, it’s on the television in Florida, which is fantastic. My bias is clearly with Wisconsin, so here’s my ridiculously slanted account of the game.

Noon (note, there’s nothing I love more than the 11 o’clock kickoff for college football games, this noon stuff is not going to cut it): Wisconsin defers the kickoff. I don’t understand why this is done in college football. Why wouldn’t you want the ball first?

12:10ish: Interception by Wisconsin. By the way, my three favorite things that happen during a football game, as a fan:

1) Touchdown by my team.

2) Fumble of any team.

3) Interception caught by my team.

12:15ish: Touchdown Wisconsin, set up by a nice screen play before that. I love screen plays. 7-0 Wisco. Wisco baby, Wisco…

12:30: PJ Hill is definitely the better running back so far, and I’m a huge Michael Hart fan. This is really my first glimpse of Hill so far, and I like what I see.

12:31: A Michigan player just got smoked immediately after receiving the punt. I just made one of those evil cackling laugh type of cheers that makes me question who’s really in control of my soul.

12:34: Michigan just completed a big pass for about 40 yards followed by the receiver getting whacked by the defender. I wonder if the defender can even feel good about that? Is there a more bittersweet experience than getting a nice hit after giving up a big play? Perhaps getting walloped after getting a big play…

12:38: Wisconsin just stopped Michigan on forth and one! The Badgers defense has me pretty excited with their first quarter play.

12:41: Michigan almost intercepted the ball for a touchdown but the cornerback dropped it. Announcers always seem to give the defenders a free pass for dropping an easy interception. Why is this? If he makes that play, the game is 7-7. How is missing that any worse than a receiver missing an easy catch?

12:45: Touchdown, Michigan. Another thing I can’t stand is when cornerbacks simply miss the ball. Again, their never taken to task by announcers for this…7-7 game, hopefully Wisco can get its offense moving again. By the way Mario Maningham is an awesome name…

12:50: Wisco’s offense is clunking…

12:55: Hmm…Wisco’s defense did its job yet again, lets see some O…

1:00: Another Badger screen goes for big yards. Michigan is looks like it can’t handle screens and short passes.

1:02: Those chincy fifteen yard penalties that go in my teams favor (like the one that just happened) always make me feel a little guilty…

1:08: Wisco finally put together a nice drive and got a field goal out of it. A couple things about this:

1) Wisconsin is too dependent on PJ Hill. The set of downs that stalled the drive all went to Hill, which Michigan is smelling out easily. They need to get others involved.

2) Taylor Melhoff's name (Wisco’s kicker) is so appropriately kicker-esque, it’s ridiculous. As ridiculous as Snakes on a Plane, no, but close…

10-7 Wisco, at the very least, this got Wisconsin out of field position purgatory.

1:12: Wisconsin was handling this game well, and then they just blew it with a boneheaded special teams play. ZT’s blood pressure: near fatal.

On a side note, that play just destroyed a burgeoning superstition. I had started thinking that the Badgers played better when I sat on the edge of the couch with my elbows resting on my thighs and my hands on my knees. On my Annoyance of Silly Superstitions Scale, this would have ranked far below my “Drink an entire nalgene of water between innings” superstition and the old “Wear the same shirt for all of October” superstition during Red Sox playoff runs.

1:15: Field Goal, Michigan, 10-10 game.

1:32: Halftime…there was a bit of friskiness by Wisco at the end of the half, but they couldn’t move it into field goal range. But they’ll get the ball, so, I guess deferring worked out.

2:00: Or not…that Wisco offense needs the D, which just held again.

2:06: Wisconsin made a nice call running the ball on 3^rd and 4. They didn’t make it, but they almost made it, and Michigan didn’t look like they expected it.

2:11: Interception by Wisconsin! Great play by the cornerback, showing that, hey, maybe they should be expected to catch one or two of those. Wisco needed that turnover.

2:30: That touchdown hurt…17-10 Michigan. I guess I’m going to have to hope the defense can score a touchdown…

2:34: It’s been confirmed, Michigan’s punter is named Zoltan…that’s nothing but fantastic.

2:36: This is starting to get depressing…Stocco’s sacked again…however, against the rest of the Big Ten, the Badgers might look good…you know, against Illinois…Here’s the difference between Michigan and Wisconsin: Michigan’s offense can at least move the ball a little bit, which allowed it to constantly work with a short field. Wisconsin is always having to drive the length of the field and they just can’t do it now that Michigan has shut down PJ Hill.

2:40: You know what’s weird about football (and college football especially)? There’s nothing the Badgers can do for the rest of the season about their lack of receivers. Like, a guy can get better, but it’s not like they can trade or sign someone to at least help out, give them the extra push. This is an incredibly depressing thought. At least in baseball, you can say to yourself, “hey, they could trade for some pitching”. Even in pro football, you can sign some washed up hack like Jeff George to give your team the illusion of hope. And with that note, I’m too depressed to continue…it’s 24-10 Michigan…short of something miraculous, Michigan can go up in the rankings again.

Mr. Steve, The World's Worst Teacher

ZT Keillor on the Virtues of Weather...

I risk sounding like Garrison Keillor here, but I’m of the opinion that it is difficult to destroy yourself with hubris whilst living in the Upper Midwest. I will be departing from Sarasota on Tuesday, and while I’ll linger in the Sunshine State for the rest of the week to spend some time in Miami, my time as a resident of Florida will end the 26^th. After a brief pit stop on the Chesapeake Bay for some sight seeing and museum wandering, I’ll be back in Wisconsin by October 6^th.

To say that I’m not excited would be a lie. Don’t get me wrong, I like Sarasota, what with its overpriced everything and octogenarian population. The tennis was good, the dollar theater was better, and I know within a week of getting home I will be craving that crepe thing at C’est La Vie or a decent burrito. But one thing I will not miss is Sarasota hubris. Working at Tijuana Flats, a slightly cut above fast food place, I encountered this hubris quite often (in fact, the real reason I liked it there was probably the fact that I never had to do dishes). I encountered this yesterday in the following exchange:

ZT: Hi there! Can I get your name?

Steve: It says it on my shirt…

ZT: Oh, yeah, Steve…well, you know I used to work at a job where I had a nametag and it kind of annoyed me when people called me “Zach”…

Steve: You sure talk a lot…

ZT: Um…

Steve: Are you new here?

ZT: No, I’ve been here for awhile…can I get your order…

Steve: You know, the girls that used to work here did a pretty competent job…

ZT: Enjoy your diet coke mixed with fruit punch and a little spit, asshole...

Maybe this guy had been watching too many westerns or something, and left the place ready to beat off with his cavalier machismo at the expense of restaurant employee. Perhaps he was trying to recapture his youth of bullying others. Who the hell knows. But Steve’s not the only asshole. In fact there are quite a few of them in Sarasota, and the situation is only exacerbated by the large number of wealthy people who have a handy bank account to back up their feelings of superiority.

This is not to smear many of the fine people living in Sarasota. There’s quite a few legitimately nice people around. In fact, this is the case for most places. There’s also quite a few assholes making residence in the Upper Midwest. But the difference is that the Florida strand is chock full of arrogance, an arrogance that would get destroyed in one winter in Minnesota or Wisconsin. Let me relay a story of a day that I was destroyed by my own hubris.

In one of those bizarre turns, the weather God’s decreed that a day in January my sophomore year of school would be far more beautiful than any mild day in May. It was almost in the 70s, sunshiny, and since there wasn’t too much snow on the ground, not terribly wet. For my first class of the day, I didn’t realize the weather was like this so I wore a sweater and jeans with a windbreaker over the top. Even wore a hat, too. For the bus ride over to main campus, I sweat enough to water to be a billionaire in Arizona. I came back, changed into a t-shirt and enjoyed the outdoors. Tossed a disc around, did some homework out in the courtyard and got some lunch. When I was in my room and the time was nearing for me to go to my afternoon class, I made a fateful decision…to walk to main campus in shorts and sandals.

The walk there went fine enough, but upon going outdoors after a couple hours of class, the day was starting to turn ugly. I saw the clouds, felt the wind picking up, but decided to walk back anyway, eschewing the bus. Within ten minutes, the whole day had gone to hell. Snow was falling, wind was blustering, and I was walking in shorts and sandals.

You see, growing up in Wisconsin, I learned the weather isn’t to be trifled with. Sure, kids try to flaunt it, wearing shorts on 30 degree days, much to their parent’s dismay. But that habit is usually kicked by high school. On a daily basis, I learned that when you mess with the weather gods, you’re bound to get your ass kicked. This lesson only seems to hit Florida with the occasional hurricane, and once that’s over, a few months will pass without the lesson being reinforced, and hubris can run rampant again.

Wisco rox, baby…

Snakes On A Plane!

So Snakes on a Plane finally made it to the dollar theater, and therefore, I finally saw it. Normally a post like this would wait until a Current Favorites...but sometimes I need to make an exception. Snakes on a Plane was everything I expected a movie called Snakes on a Plane to be and more. My $1.75 ticket was not wasted in the slightest. I feel my life is slightly better having seen it.

Now I wouldn't recommend much more in the self-conciously ridiculous vein however...it seems like one might be enough for awhile. I'm fairly conifident I'll never see Snakes on a Plane again. I would not pay more than $1.75 to see anything in that vein. But apparently, a lot of people would.

Introducing Mr. Steve, The World's Worst Teacher...

Why Morality Is Important

I'm not sure why I read something by Ann Coulter, call it curiosity I guess. I'd never read anything by Ann Coulter...now I realize there probably isn't much use in it. If you feel like figuring that out yourself, here's the article I read.

There's something in there that bothered me a bit more, however. There's a section where Coulter rants:

" But being nice to enemies is an idea that has never worked, no matter how many times liberals make us do it. It didn't work with the Soviet Union, Imperial Japan, Hitler or the North Vietnamese — enemies notable for being more civilized than the Islamic savages we are at war with today."


If Coulter wants to open up the history textbook, I'll be more than happy to do so. First of all, I believe it was a democrat who increased government spending, started social security (in other words, a dirty liberal) who fought back against Japan and Germany. His name was Franklin Delenore Roosevelt. You may have heard of him. Or if you want to bring North Vietnam into this, why don't we talk about the massive bombing campaigns? Was that nice? Was Lyndon "Great Society" Johnson one of those pansy liberals? Would a real man like Reagan or Bush have unleashed the nukes?

How about Coulter looks at a much more appropriate historical example (perhaps outside of World War II, the conservative's wet dream), that of the French in Algeria. Here was a situation in which the French were dealing with a vicious and ruthless independence movement that frequently enganged in terrorism. The French responded in kind, using equally vicious detention and interrogation techniques. The net result was Algerian independence in 1962 and the mass exodus of the pied-noirs (European descent Algerians) to France.

Here's the point...it's easy to make history support your side, but it's also easy to make it contradict your side. And in this instance, it seems that the most appropriate example seems to contradict Coulter's argument. Which is not suprising, as she supports torturing people. In other words, throwing morals out the window in order to win the "War on Terror".

I know one thing however. I do not want to be embarassed by my country. I don't like having to aknowlege that my coutry enslaved people, carried out a near genocide against the Indians, and certain other attrocities. So I would like it if my country would take the moral high ground. Perhaps victory is not depending on it (I doubt more torture will help us...or hurt us, strategically speaking), but the soul of the nation is.

A Quick One, While He's Away...

-I just saw this blurb for some musician, Under Byen (not sure what that is...and if this were a more long winded column I'd look it up for you) over at Stereogum.com. It said, "Denmark's best kept secret." To be honest, I thought all of Denmarks secrets were pretty well kept. In fact, I don't know anything about Denmark except that it's capital is Copenhagen...and now that it has produced someone called Under Byen...

-Now that I've resigned myself to a Brewer-less and Red Sox-less October, my ideal playoff picture looks like this.

NL

Dodgers, St Louis, Mets, Phillies

AL

A's, Twins, Tigers, Yankees

As for World Series matchups, the one's I'd most like to see are:

1) Twins-Dodgers (My two favorite teams out of the ones listed there)
2) Tigers-Dodgers
3) Yankees-Dodgers (that's old school, east versus west goodness, even though I hate the Yankees)

So yeah, I'm pulling for the Dodgers...

-I just ordered tickets to see the Hold Steady on October 2 in Baltimore...the new album comes out the next day. That is nothing but fantastic.

-I still have no idea whether or not I love Blueberry Boat.

-I'm actually kind of excited to see the Monday Night Football game from New Orleans. I love New Orleans. I wish them the best and hope everything works out there. I'm starting to feel really guilty about picking Atlanta...

-Apparently the new Jet album leaked...and no, it wasn't leaked by a commercial...

-I don't know how, but the movie Paradise Now caused a big argument about good and evil between Ann and I. I'm also unsure if this makes me more or less of a nerd...

-You know you love double enthusiasm for the day...later friends...

NFL Picks, Week 3

Well, I was happy to see my beloved Packers score last week, and even better, they were very much in the game until the end. Unfortuately, they couldn't pull out, but the game was infinately more fun to watch than the 26-0 loss to the Bears.

One pain in ZT's neck this week though during the Green Bay - New Orleans matchup was the announcers. Now, I just in general dislike most announcing crews out there as it seems odd to me that with numerous sportswriters out there who write insightful things without getting bogged down in cliches and self contradictory statements along with numerous impovisational comedians who can think on their feet...there are zero individuals who can take on the announcer role without sounding like an insufferable meathead. The biggest problem is the pool in which networks are looking in order to find announcers. They seem to invariably go with former players who may or may not be suffering much of the time from post-concussion syndrome. So to them, gushing over a Reggie Bush punt return because he herked and jerked a bunch of time, but really only netted himself five yards would strike them as a slightly stupid thing to do. Perhaps instead they could make an actually funny joke about the situation. I mean, anyone else who saw Bush fake out about the Packers players around six times then harmlessly run out of bounds five yards later must have found the situation at least a bit funny? Bah!

In other pigskin developments, the Packers new kicker is named Dave Rayner. Packer fans, you know what this means...anytime Mr. Rayner does anything you must yell, "Make it RAAAAAAAYN!"

While licking my wounds from the Packers loss, I happened to catch the last few minutes of the Giants-Philly game. Now, if you look back at my picks last week (and you can with that handy tag feature!) you would know that I picked Philadelphia. Seeing the game in overtime had me a bit upset, since Philly was quite far ahead earlier in the day. And then the Giants were driving...but then inexplicably took some penelties that started making the field goal a bit longer. Watching Tom Coughlin's head nearly explode was everthing I could hope for and more. Then Eli Manning found Plaxico Burress for perhaps one of the most improbable overtime wins ever. I was completely stunned. I think people were trying to talk to me...but I was just staring, jaw gaping open. But watching Plaxico Burress on the replays, I realized he was just as stunned at first. He had one of those, "Wait, did I just win the game?" look on his face, which immediatley transformed into a, "You're goddamn right I won that game! Yeah! Look at me, I'm the shit!" faces. Needless to say, watch it again, it's hilarious.

Which I have to say made me like the overtime format a little. It adds a bit of walk off drama to the whole affair. But then again, most overtime games end with the anti-climatic 34 yard field goal. Yawns abound...So therefore, ZT is proposing a new overtime format. If a team scores a field goal, they get the points, but they do not get the win. However, a touchdown that puts a team ahead would end the game. So say the game is tied at 20-20 heading into OT...team A drives down the field and kicks a field goal, which makes it 23-20. The game would continue, and if the score remained 23-20 through the rest of OT, team A would end up winning. However, if on the ensuing kickoff, team B returned the kick for a touchdown, the game would immediately end, team B winning 26-23. However, if team A was the St. Louis Rams and just continued scoring field goals and was up 29-20, and team B finally scored a TD, the game would not end, because they would still be behind 29-26. If the conversion puts the team ahead, that would also be good for a win. Say the score was 26-20, and the trailing team scores a TD, they would not win with the touchdown, but would win with a successful extra point. Wouldn't this be ridiculously exciting? This must happen!

But anyways, less about the overtime format, more about the picks for the week. ZT had a fairly bad week going 8-8, which was good for 9th overall for the week. Adam took the number one spot for the week going 12-4. Amy and Todd both were models of consistency, once again going 11-5, and therefore holding steady at number one overall. So here are the standings:

1) Amy (11-5) 22-10
1) Todd (11-5) 22-10
3) Adam (12-4) 21-11
3) Tim (11-5) 21-11
5) Shawna (10-6) 20-12
6) Ann (9-7) 18-14
6) Jane (9-7) 18-14
6) ZT (8-8) 18-14
9) Renee (9-7) 15-17

Now for this weeks picks:

Carolina at Tampa Bay

With Chris Simms at the helm, there's no reason the Bucs can't start the season 0-3.

ZT's pick: Carolina

Chicago at Minnesota:

Does anyone else find it a little bizarre that Chicago is starting with three divisional games? If they roll out of the Metrodome with a win they'll be 3-0 with all three wins over divisional foes, two on the road. This will leave only two more road divisional games for the rest of the season. Lucky Bears...

ZT's pick: Chicago

Cincinnatti at Pittsburgh

You know, Ben Rothliswhatever is lucky his tendon isn't in Carson Palmer's knee. Wouldn't that be a great story though? Pittsburgh makes amends for nearly ruining a rebuilt franchise. Perhaps that's why he was riding a supercharged motorcycle without a helmet like a dumbass.

ZT's pick: Pittsburgh

Green Bay at Detroit

It's fairly hard to get an idea of how a stadium is on the television. Television just can't convey what it's like to be at Lambeau Field. But it can do a job of giving a clue to it. I've never been to Ford Field, but it strikes me as a very odd stadium. It looks like an overgrown sports bar or something.

ZT's pick: Green Bay

Jacksonville at Indianapolis

So I'm telling myself that Jacksonville's defense is riding high and could shut down Indy's offense. But everything is telling me this is a stupid choice...screw it...

ZT's pick: Jacksonville

NY Jets at Buffalo:

Two potential sleeper picks here. Both lost to New England in close games, and both won their other game. But the NY Jets are ZT's sleeper pick for the year, and he will live and die by them!

ZT's pick: NY Jets

Tennessee at Miami:

I was ready to swear off Miami for the season, but Tennessee is gawd awful...and Miami can at least pretend it's trying to win...I think...

ZT's pick: Miami

Washington at Houston:

I've been thinking off all kinds of things to call the Bush-less Texans, but everything is too easy and too dirty...so...I'll just call them stupid.

ZT's pick: Washington

Baltimore at Cleveland:

There's lots of things about this game that screams let down game for Baltimore. But Cleveland just isn't a good enough team to pull that upset off. I'm waiting for Baltimore to get taken down a peg by a Pittsburgh, not a Cleveland.

ZT's pick: Baltimore

NY Giants at Seattle:

It takes all kinds of karma to pull off a win like the Giants pulled off against the Eagles, and ZT will ride that bandwagon until it crashes.

ZT's pick: NY Giants

Philadelphia at San Francisco:

ZT is mad at Philly for letting him down last week and contributing to an 8-8 week. ZT is mad at San Francisco for beating St. Louis thus also contributing to an 8-8 week. This means I don't know who to pick except for the better team.

ZT's pick: Philadelphia

St. Louis at Arizona:

St. Louis finally got over their touchdown phobia last week, making baby steps. But as it stands right now, they have one touchdown and eight field goals in two games. At this rate, they will have eight touchdowns on the season and 64 field goals. Methinks the Rams might want to consider making Jeff Wilkins their franchise player.

ZT's pick: Arizona

Denver at New England:

Ah, playoff matchups from last year! Fun always abounds there. Unfortunately for Denver, Jake Plummer isn't good at football anymore.

ZT's pick: New England

Atlanta at New Orleans:

The sentimental pick would be New Orleans rallying around their returning football team, willing them to victory. But as you can see, Unencumbered Enthusiasm is a place only for reason and level-headedness...and methinks Atlanta is better at football.

ZT's pick: Atlanta

Bye Week: Dallas, Kansas City, Oakland, San Diego

While ZT thinks the bye week gives T.O. extra time to heal, it will also give him extra time to think he's worth more money...even though the guy's apparently never heard of milk. Seriously, broken leg, now a broken finger? What's next TO? It's called calcium buddy...you can find it in milk...it does a body good.

As for Kansas City, they will have the bye week to spend in Kansas City...

Oakland can dream of what the endzone looks like, and maybe check out the A's playoff run.

San Diego can bask in the glow of last week's 40-7 shellacking of the Titans and also go to the beach, go surfing, and just freaking enjoy living in San Diego.

ZT's pick: San Diego

The Krogman 25

Top Artists

1) Fiery Furnaces (47 plays)
2) Outkast (39 plays)
3) Beck (19 plays)
4) The Decemberists (13 plays)
5) Neutral Milk Hotel (12 plays)

Top Songs

1) “Bitter Tea” – The Fiery Furnaces (6 plays)
2) “Benton Harbor Blues” – The Fiery Furnaces (5 plays)
3) “Tropical Iceland” – The Fiery Furnaces (5 plays)
4) “Collarbone” – Fujiya & Miyagi (4 plays)
5) “Quay Cur” – The Fiery Furnaces (4 plays)

Top Albums

1) Blueberry Boat – The Fiery Furnaces
2) Aquemini – Outkast
3) In the Aeroplane Over the Sea – Neutral Milk Hotel
4) Stankonia – Outkast
5) Mutations – Beck

The Krogman 25

1) “Positive Jam” – The Hold Steady (45 plays + 1) LW (1)

2) “Jesus, ect.” – Wilco (44 plays) LW (2)

3) “Anthems For a Seventeen Year-Old Girl” – Broken Social Scene (43 plays + 2) LW (3)

4) “Looks Just Like the Sun” – Broken Social Scene (41 plays + 1) LW (5)

5) “The Swish” – The Hold Steady (41 plays +1) LW (6)

6) “Multitude of Casualties” – The Hold Steady (41 plays + 1) LW (7)

7) “Sister Jack” – Spoon (41 plays) LW (4)

8) “Cattle and the Creeping Things” – The Hold Steady (39 plays) LW (8)

9) “Certain Songs” – The Hold Steady (38 plays) LW (9)

10) “Ashes of American Flags” – Wilco (38 plays + 3) LW (14)

11) “Shampoo Suicide” – Broken Social Scene (36 plays + 0) LW (10)

12) “Barfruit Blues” – The Hold Steady (36 plays + 1) LW (12)

13) “My Mathematical Mind” – Spoon (36 plays) LW (11)

14) “Fit But You Know It” – The Streets (35 plays) LW (13)

15) “Casimir Pulaski Day” – Sufjan Stevens (35 plays +2) LW (20)

16) “Cause = Time” – Broken Social Scene (34 plays) LW (15)

17) “Crazy” – Gnarls Barkley (34 plays) LW (16)

18) “Heavy Metal Drummer” – Wilco (34 plays) LW (17)

19) “Shine a Light” – Wolf Parade (34 plays) LW (18)

20) “I’ll Believe In Anything” – Wolf Parade (34 plays) LW (19)

21) “The Way We Get By” – Spoon (32 plays) LW (21)

22) “It Was Supposed to Be So Easy” – The Streets (32 plays) LW (22)

23) “Poor Places” – Wilco (32 plays) LW (23)

24) “Outlaw Blues” – Bob Dylan (31 plays) LW (24)

25) “Paper Thin Walls” – Modest Mouse (31 plays) LW (-)

Some stats for the week:

I played 225 tracks this week.

21% were Fiery Furnaces songs.
17% were hip hop songs.
5% were from the Krogman 25.
2% were by John Mayer

I spent over 16 hours listening to music (sometimes whilst doing something else). That works out to about 2 hours and fifteen minutes per day.

Current Favorites

Well, I've failed you. I didn't finish Life on the Mississippi, nor have I listened to my brand spankin' new Fiery Furnaces (in 2004!) album nearly enough. So, what does that leave for Current Favorites? Why it's only the best movie of 2006! So you know, there's something to look forward to...

Aside from that...Hugo Chavez was a bit ticked about not getting much of a mention in his extra special edition of Current Favorites. Due to some unfortunate bickering, Unencumbered Enthusiasm will not be available in Venezuela, at least for now. I'm hard at work making a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies that should smooth things over. So hold steady Venezuela, as my third favorite South American country, I promise not to fail you now (too bad you can't actually read that encouraging statement...sigh...politics make me sad).

But it's time to turn that frown upside down...without further ado...

Music:

As I mentioned earlier, I finally picked up The Fiery Furnaes' Blueberry Boat. Prior to purchasing the album, I was able to aquire "Quay Cur", "Straight Street", "Paw Paw Tree", and "Chief Inspector Blancheflower" through dubious and shadowy means (muahahahaha!). Now I'm encountering the problem where I sort of look forward to those songs and cling to those songs because I know them. But once I get past that, I hope to find a few wonderful new treats in there. A couple songs I'm really enjoying that I gained by purchasing the album are "Chris Michaels" and "Blueberry Boat". A full, actual review will be coming, I hope, next week. Who knows, it's been so long since I've actually reviewed an album.

Movies:

Scoop: Full disclosure #1 - I like Woody Allen quite a bit. Full disclosure #2 - I was probably in the perfect mood for goofy humor. That being said, Scoop was, without a doubt, my favorite film of 2006. It's a story about an American college student (Scarlett Johansson) who ends up in London visiting a friend. She's trying to get an interview for her school newspaper, but then stumbles upon a news tip about a serial killer who just happens to be one of London's most elligable bachelors. Woody Allen plays her magician/comrade in arms. Allen is at his goofiest, and Johansson plays along admirably. To be honest, it was a nice respite from the Owen Wilson, Steve Carrell, Will Farrell dominated comedy of recent years. Which isn't to say I don't like it, just that it's nice to see something different once in awhile (and a little less manic). After it was all over, Ann and I walked out with a big grin on our faces. Scoop doesn't try that hard, but somehow comes out a fantastic winner. 9/10

Breakfast at Tiffany's: When you have a three movie stretch in which you make your girlfriend watch Miami Vice, The Usual Suspects, and Momento, payback will be swift. But Breakfast at Tiffany's was actually quite enjoyable to watch. Aside from the unfortunate Mickey Rooney as the stereotype gone horribly wrong, the movie stays funny and enjoyable throughout. 8/10

Under the Tuscan Sun: See the previous...except this movie wasn't that good. I'm sure it's heartwarming for...oh, middle aged women, but not for twenty something males. There really isn't anything about it that can have it clear that hurdle, except that it's vaguely pleasent. Production quality is the only thing keeping this from the Lifetime Network. 5/10

Books:

So my mom is the only person recommending a book to me? C'mon people, get off your ass and get me some reading material!

Until next week...remember, all of you are a 10/10

Top Ten Albums Mix Tape

Well, now that I've finished Top Ten Albums, I figured I'd give it one more spot on this blog and make a playlist for y'all. I kept it under 80 minutes so it's wired for sound and down with burning. Neeways, thar she blows:

1) "Thunder Road"- Bruce Springsteen: Best opening song ever
2) "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes" - Modest Mouse: Not my favorite, but I'm in the mood for it right now.
3) "Hotwax" - Beck: Would be number two, but "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes" goes into this song ridiculously well. Best, Beck, Ever...
4) "Gratitude" - The Beastie Boys: The video for this song might be the coolest "Band playing in an exotic locale without much else going on" type video ever.
5) "Idioteque" - Radiohead: So what if this list is more obvious than "According to Jim"
6) "Ashes of American Flags" - Wilco: It's hard to tell in Florida, but I think it's getting colder...this song will be in style again soon.
7) "Like A Rolling Stone" - Bob Dylan: Second best opening song ever...fortunately it works down here as well.
8) "Another Travellin' Song" - Bright Eyes: What better place for the next Bob Dylan! Har har har...
9) "Multitude of Casualties" - The Hold Steady: This is the first Hold Steady song I ever heard, and it's still my favorite.
10) "Novacane" - Beck: When I saw Beck up in the Twin Cities a couple years ago, he opened with "Novacane"...perfect concert opener.
11) "Wild Packs of Family Dogs" - Modest Mouse: This song is great in its own right, but it just has to be here for...
12) "Paper Thin Walls" - Modest Mouse: Listening to one without the other is just kinda weird.
13) "Exit Music (For a Film)" - Radiohead: I'm still waiting for the movie that has the balls to actually use this as its exit music.
14) "It Takes A Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" - Bob Dylan: If you read the Bob Dylan post, you'll understand why this one was included.
15) "Something's Got to Give" - The Beastie Boys: This is the exact moment that the Beasties started turning into non-violent Tibet lovers. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing...but I present it here because it grooves and for it's historic importance.
16) "Where It's At" - Beck: First Beck song I heard (being aware it was Beck, I'm pretty sure I heard "Loser" before that). Started the whole thing...how could it not be on here?
17) "Poison Oak" - Bright Eyes: Best false ending of all time.
18) "Jungleland" - Bruce Springsteen: How could it be that the Boss has both the greatest opening and closing tracks of all time...on one album? Damn he's good.

Get it here

A Quick One, While He's Away

Some random thoughts, wired for sound and down with whatever:

1) I blame one man for the giant Brett Favre backlash that's occuring right now and driving me crazy: John Madden. If John Madden hadn't taken it upon himself to have a Favregasm everytime he announced a Packers game, nobody would be sick of hearing Brett Favre described as a gunslinger, the only people making mean jokes about his interceptions would be Vikings fans. Who are just bad people. Now I love Brett Favre, and he really deserves better than this. I mean, just because you got annoyed by John Madden doesn't take away the fact that he was a consistent joy to watch over the years...and it's not like the Packers would be better without him. People don't treat Bernie Williams like this...

2) I'm glad Congress had the balls to stand up to President Bush's "I wanna be a dictator" plans. Seriously, when have secret prisons where the accused don't get to see the evidence against them been a good idea?

3) My NFL Picks column every Thursday is growning into my favorite thing to write. I'm hoping I can make it even more entertaining. Of course, this has led me to read other football columns...which is something I haven't really done in years. Hopefully all this information gathering helps my picks (yeah right).

4) The song "Collarbone" by Fujiya & Miyagi is incredibly infectious, though I'm quite skeptical that I could consistently listen to Fujiya & Miyagi.

5) Top Five Things I'm Looking Forward To:
1) The Hold Steady Concert in Baltimore on October 2
2) Sightseeing in Washington DC
3) New Hold Steady and Beck albums out October 3
4) Marlins-Reds game September 26th (I hope the Reds get crushed).
5) Getting to use my kayak again

6) I might have seen the best movie of 2006 this week. Details are coming on Monday...

7) Digging through things I downloaded on Ares almost a year ago but never really listened to is really starting to pay off. I found the Fiery Furnaces, and I realized that Boards of Canada make extremely boring music. Huzzah! I have an opinion on Boards of Canada!

NFL Picks, Week 2

Well homies, it seems that my mocking the Bears air attack backfired. It was like I trash talked Steve Smith apparently. While the Packers held the running game pretty well in check, Rex Grossman was able to hit a variety of recievers, and keep drives alive and keeping the Packer's offense off the field. Of course, the Packers propensity towards three and outs didn't help either. Though I have to question coaching staff's decision to not mix up pass and run within a set of downs. They'd either run it three times in a row or pass three times in a row. This strikes me as stupid. But then again, I was never the offensive coordinator for the 49ers like our illustrious Mike McCarthy was...so what do I know...

As for the rest of the picks, I did reasonably well. However, not well enough to take first place this week, and I will need to make up a game on the leaders. Anyways, here's the standings in the Krogman-Halbach-Lehmann-Spilde Family Picks:

1) Amy 11-5
1) Todd 11-5 (Methinks that Emma is really doing the picking...)
3) Shawna 10-6 (Had a chance to go 12-4 but blew the Monday Night Games)
3) Tim 10-6
3) ZT 10-6
6) Adam 9-7
6) Ann 9-7
6) Jane 9-7
9) Renee 6-10

So I'm tied for third with my pa and my sister. My mother is unfortunately below .500, much like the Detroit Lions she insists on picking yet again this week. But everyone else seems to be doing fine, and I'm sure my mum will get back to winning. Everyone has a bad week.

Now for the games:

Buffalo at Miami:

A note about Miami...three of my favorite Wisco college sports stars have ended up in Miami. Jamar Fletcher (though I think he's elsewhere now), Chris Chambers, and Dwayne Wade. I would like it a lot if Culpepper would succeed not because I like Culpepper, but because I want Chambers to succeed. Therefore, I have an irresistable soft spot for Miami that may compromise my picks this year, as Culpepper looks like a shell of his former self. But I'll swallow the poison again...

ZT's Pick: Miami

Carolina at Minnesota:

ZT went to school in Minnesota, and learned to hate the Vikings even more than he did before. Luckily, this pick can be made without trying to overcome my Vikings hatred...Carolina's just the better team. Plus, their fueled by 'roids!

ZT's Pick: Carolina

Cincinnati at Cleveland:

ZT is not sure he's spelling Cincinnati correctly, but he is very sure that he is spelling Cleveland correctly. ZT also kind of likes the Indians, but very much dislikes the Reds (Pete Rose is a ho!). However, I don't care enough to take a hit in the win column.

ZT's Pick: Cincinnati

Detroit at Chicago:

Live from the space toilet!

ZT's Pick: Chicago

Houston at Indianapolis:

Just imagine...Houston fans could look forward to this probably lopsided contest just because they'd get to watch Reggie Bush play. Mario Williams will probably put on an adequate show though...

ZT's Pick: Indianapolis

New Orleans at Green Bay:

Last season, the Packers trounced New Orleans 50-something to 7 or something like that. I think they're still dealing with the karma from that.

Bonus New Orleans note: I came across something in Life on the Mississippi (review coming soon) this morning whilst reading. When Mark Twain was down there he ran across the word, "lagniappe" (pronounced lanny-yap). It means, basicly, the thirteenth donut in a bakers dozen, or something thrown in for good measure. So you can say, if you give someone the extra chicken wing on a platter you are splitting, you can just say, "That's for lagniappe." It's fun, try at home!

Another bonus New Orleans Note: When ZT was in New Orleans, he never ran across the word lagniappe...he did however run across the terms, "I got some beads, what are you gonna do for them?" and "Please don't vomit on my friend."

ZT's Pick: Green Bay

NY Giants at Philadelphia:

I can't decide if I hate Eli Manning or Philadelphia more...

ZT's Pick: Philadelphia

Oakland at Baltimore:

Oakland got shut out last week. Baltimore shut someone out last week. Further analysis is basicly useless.

ZT's Pick: Baltimore

Tampa Bay at Atlanta:

Since ZT lives near Tampa, at least close enough to have seen the game last week...he has a feeling that Chris Simms might not be the answer at QB, at least with a good defense in town. Or ever...

ZT's Pick: Atlanta

Arizona at Seattle:

I wonder if Seattle didn't score any touchdowns because they just wanted to toy with the Lions, or because the Super Bowl loser hangover has begun. Regardless, it's just more fun to pick Arizona. It never really works out, but it feels dangerous up until game time.

ZT's Pick: Arizona

St. Louis at San Francisco:

Another team that is anti-touchdown! St. Louis, giving the fans what they want!

ZT's Pick: St. Louis

Kansas City at Denver:

I wonder if Trent Green's injury would have been better or worse at high altitude...if only the game had been at Invesco Field at Mile High...we'd know...

ZT's Pick: Denver

New England at NY Jets:

The Jets worked out for me last week, and I might be ready to pick a sleeper for the season...and that's the NY Jets! A strong performance from Chad Pennington makes me wonder, "Wait, wasn't he really good a few years ago? Why was he counted out?" Look for them to ride some momentum from last week and take down New England.

ZT's Pick: NY Jets

Tennessee at San Diego:

I like the song "Rocky Top Tennessee" but I still don't think Vince Young will be a great NFL quarterback.

ZT's Pick: San Diego

Washington at Dallas:

ZT is angry at Washington for the following:

1) Losing to Minnesota
2) Being named the Redskins
3) Playing at a place called FedEx Field (lame times 1000)

ZT used to hate Dallas back when the Packers were fighting them for a spot in the Super Bowl...but years of mediocrity has tempered my distaste. Therefore:

ZT's Pick: Dallas

Pittsburgh at Jacksonville:

So Pittsburgh can win with Chaz Batch at the helm. Well then, who am I to doubt them now...

ZT's Pick: Pittsburgh

Until next week...don't gamble too much...have fun!

The Krogman 25

The Krogman 25

It’s time to switch up the Krogman 25 and give you a few more stats. So we’ll still have the Classic 25 at the end, but first we’ll start with the weekly top five artists, songs, and albums.

Top 5 Artists:

1) The Fiery Furnaces (46 plays)
2) Beck (40 plays)
3) Wilco (9 plays)
4) Tricky (7 plays)
5) Nirvana (6 plays)

Top 5 Albums

1) Beck Odelay
2) Beck Mutations
3) Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
4) Tricky Maxinquaye
5) Nirvana Unplugged

Top 5 Songs

1) The Fiery Furnaces “Tropical Iceland” (12 plays)
2) The Fiery Furnaces “Paw Paw Tree” (11 plays)
3) The Fiery Furnaces “Straight Street” (9 plays)
4) The Fiery Furnaces “Quay Cur” (5 plays)
5) The Fiery Furnaces “Benton Harbor Blues” (5 plays)

Normally, this list would be a little bit more balanced…however I’ve been on a ridiculous Fiery Furnaces obsession. So that skews the results a bit. Though I can’t imagine this will be the only time one artist takes all five top songs for the week.

Now, for the Krogman 25

1) Positive Jam – The Hold Steady (44 plays + 2) LW (1)
2) Jesus, ect. – Wilco (44 plays + 2) LW (2)
3) Anthems For a Seventeen-Year Old Girl – Broken Social Scene (41 plays + 2) LW 4
4) Sister Jack – Spoon (41 plays + 0) LW (3)
5) Looks Just Like the Sun – Broken Social Scene (40 plays + 3) LW (7)
6) The Swish – The Hold Steady (40 plays + 2) LW (5)
7) Multitude of Casualties – The Hold Steady (40 plays + 2) LW (6)
8) Cattle and the Creeping Things – The Hold Steady (39 plays + 3) LW (9)
9) Certain Songs – The Hold Steady (38 plays + 2) LW (8)
10) Shampoo Suicide – Broken Social Scene (36 plays + 3) LW (14)
11) My Mathematical Mind – Spoon (36 plays + 0) LW (10)
12) Barfruit Blues – The Hold Steady (35 plays + 3) LW (18)
13) Fit But You Know It – The Streets (35 plays +1) LW (11)
14) Ashes of American Flags – Wilco (35 plays +2) LW (16)
15) Cause = Time – Broken Social Scene (34 plays + 2) LW (17)
16) Crazy – Gnarls Barkley (34 plays + 1) LW (15)
17) Heavy Metal Drummer – Wilco (34 plays + 2) LW (21)
18) Shine a Light – Wolf Parade (34 plays + 0) LW (13)
19) I’ll Believe in Anything – Wolf Parade (34 plays + 0) LW (13)
20) Casimir Pulaski Day – Sufjan Stevens (33 plays + 2) LW (23)
21) The Way We Get By – Spoon (32 plays + 0) LW (19)
22) It Was Supposed to be So Easy – The Streets (32 plays + 0) LW (20)
23) Poor Places – Wilco (32 plays + 1) LW (24)
24) Outlaw Blues – Bob Dylan (31 plays + 0) LW (22)
25) Hornets! Hornets! – The Hold Steady (30 plays) LW (-)

Current Favorites

Music:

So it's been alluded at, but now it's time...I've finally found a new band to talk about (at least in my world, they've been around for a while now). And that's The Fiery Furnaces. What happened here was that I was looking through my Windows Media Player at old songs I downloaded in my file sharing days but never really listened to. And I came across three Fiery Furnaces songs, "Straight Street", "Paw Paw Tree" and "Tropical Iceland". I listened the first time, and it was enough to get me to listen a second time...then by the third time I was hooked. So hooked I dove into the muck of mp3 blogs to try and find some more. I've got about seven Fiery Furnaces songs now, and I'm itching for more. I'm itching to add some songs to my collection...this is very exciting. For most of Saturday and Sunday, I didn't listen to much of anything else (except for some Odelay to get in the mood to write my Top Ten Albums yesterday). I love the long tracks that change but then come back to a theme. Makes me thinks of one my favorite Who songs, "A Quick One (While He's Away)". The Fiery Furnaces, sort of like their name, exude controlled energy. Now I'm hooked, and there might be a couple CD purchases in my near future. Needless to say, I'm extactic about this development.

Movies:

Miami Vice: Well, this one didn't take long to make it to the dollar theatre, so I'm nothing but happy about that. It was an enjoyable movie, and I found myself not really wanting it to end. This is normally a good sign that the atmosphere is working. I fell into the world the movie with ease. However, the movie has serious shortcoming in regards to character development. First of all, the movie focuses on Colin Farrell, who is a terrible actor, rather than Jamie Foxx, who is a good actor. But overall, the movie is satisfying enough, but not as great as it could be...7/10

The Usual Suspects: Ann wanted to see this movie, and I wouldn't pass up another opportunity to see it. And she actually liked this one, so I feel better after the Rocky debacle. 10/10

Books:

AHHH, Life on the Mississippi is so long...or I'm just not in a reading mood. Who knows...but I guarentee I'll have a review by next week.

Top Ten Albums

Well, it's been fun. Overall, this was my favorite portion of the blog to write. It gave me an excuse to listen to my favorite albums again and think about why they mean so much to me. But it's time to get to the very last one. As promised, I'd do an extra special "Number One Album" edition. If you've been paying attention, you know that my favorite album of all time is...well why don't we just look at that list again:

1) Beck Odelay
2) Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
3) Radiohead Kid A
4) Modest Mouse The Moon & Antarctica
5) Radiohead OK Computer
6) Beastie Boys Check Your Head
7) Bruce Springsteen Born to Run
8) Bob Dylan Highway 61 Revisited
9) Bright Eyes I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
10) The Hold Steady Separation Sunday

When I was making this list, there were some hard decisions involved. I mean, the line between number ten and number eleven (Paul's Boutique) was razor thin. And any one of those top three could have been number one, placing itself in this very late, but very reverent spot right now. I thought about it more than I should, and to be honest, I almost made a mistake and put Yankee Hotel Foxtrot first. But as I was about to do it, I thought..."Wait, you're not seriously going to put Odelay second are you?" And that sealed the deal. So for today we have...

Beck Odelay

I think the first time I heard anything from Odelay was on MTV once when I was in a hotel room. I'm not sure...there's all these moments from my childhood in hotel rooms that are one big blur. There's one of Jim Gatner hitting a home run, one of me playing at an indoor mini golf course, and one of me hearing "Where It's At" the first time. I think my memory is in havoc in that regard because I've always had trouble sleeping in hotel rooms.

I do remember seeing the album at my local library. The Portage County Public Library had a rather scattered assortment of CD's and cassettes available for checkout. This was my first method of getting free music. It was pretty flippin' sweet actually, because I could borrow a CD or tape for a couple weeks, and then make a cassette copy of it while I had it, and then rock it on my indestructable walkman (seriously, this thing is still operating. I got it for my birthday in sixth grade! I dropped it so many times, I even split it in half once and patched it up myself. It stilled purred like a kitten. It never ate a tape! This has to be my most successful electronic device ever). I got Odelay one day and I never turned back. Once I had it taped, I had it sitting in my walkman just about every day of the week. Also, around this time, I had a paper route, which lent itself to walkman listening rather well. It also lends itself to pondering important things, like:

"Is Beck the coolest man alive?"
"Can anyone make music better than this?"
"I think I'd like more country if it all sounded like 'Sissyneck'"
"Turntables are cool...I want to do something with turntables..."
"When will I be able to see Beck in concert?"
"I wish I had the internet so I could look up Beck on it"
"Eh...maybe rap isn't crap...is it?

And along those sorts of lines, on and on and some other things.

So when I fianally got some green from the paper delivery gig, I soon splurged on the actual CD...of my very own!!!

And so it's been since then. There's lots of CDs I got back then that I've changed my opinion on or don't really listen to anymore. There's a lucky few that I've found new ways to appreciate, as well as ones that I learned to appreciate because I wasn't quite ready for them yet. But Odelay, I listened to so exhaustively that I think there was little new to glean over the years. I had entirely digested it...but that didn't diminish it. I never got tired of it, and I've probably listened to at least once or twice every month since I've been in eighth grade. Sometimes, I go on a kick and I'm listening to it just about every day. Ask my girlfriend, I can nearly recite every word to every song without hearing the song. This is the only album I can say that about. And I've been looking for an album like this my entire life. My entire musical listening existence has been trying to top Odelay, to find something that could become as much a part of my life as that one album.

One album on this list gave me a bit of hope in this regard, that being Bright Eyes I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. However, it didn't quite have the wings I was hoping it would. And so Odelay remains, untouched after almost ten years.

But why? What about this album makes it so great? I said last week that this is the album where Beck put it all together. His cut and paste sample happy genre hopping mish mashing was the perfect foil for scattershot word play lyrics. It was a collage that didn't just paste a bunch of stuff together, but wove it into the fabric of the canvas, mixed it into the paint, and seeped into the glue. It sounds like the sounds are all coming out of a well worn and beloved acoustic guitar, slapped on crackly vinyl. Beck wasn't just channeling hip hop, country, lounge, folk, rock, metal or any other meaningless label, he actually was all those things simultaniously.

Which is a pretty hard thing to do, and it's not suprising that he's never been able to do it again. Beck is at his best now when he's focused on something, and when he tries to go all Odelay on us again, like he did with Guero, it sounds stale. And I have a theory as to why Odelay can't possibly be topped or even replicated to much satisfaction. I don't think Beck really had any idea what he was doing at the time. If you listen to early Beck, it's all so schizophrenic, and it seems like he's just playing what comes to him. There's a line in the song "Thunder Peel" (available on Stereopathetic Soulmanure) that goes, " "It's a cold out special/when she stole my passion/it's an everlastin'/that's a ghetto blastin". And this really sums up what was important to Beck when he made Odelay. Just blast that shit...and say things like, "Now I'm rollin' in sweat/with a loaf of cold bread/and a TACO in my JEANS!" There's nothing calculated about it, but he'd spent so much time being so many things, that for this one special moment, he was all those things at the same time. And at the end, "Ramshackle" laments the end of the day. Everything's been poured out and the whole thing is disassembled; the whole thing lies in pieces. All we're left with now are the pieces, beautiful and interesting in their own right...but we'll always be reminded of what they created.

MP3 Bogs...

What else can a poor boy do, 'cept write for an mp3 blog...

"Write" is used there loosely...as I've delved into the muck of mp3 blogs once again in order to satisfy my growing obsession with The Fiery Furnaces (more on that tomorrow). Seriously, is there a more unsatisfying thirst quencher out there than the mp3 blog? I guess I want the best of both worlds...a way to discover new music on the cheap, but also a teensy weensy bit of content to go along with it?

One of my favorite combinations in the world is reading and listening to music. So the mp3 blog should be made for me. But I only go to them intermittently. Partially because the bands many of them hype aren't worth much (Cold War Kids anyone? How about Silversun Pickups? blech). And partially because they read like a bunch of quick artist bios. In the words of Mike Skinner, "Let's push things forward."

Luckily for me, there's assaults coming from both sides of the aisle. Content heavy Pitchfork has started posting quite a few mp3's, so you can at least listen to some of the music that you can't make sense of from the review on the site. And then there's the fabulous (in use and in title) Hype Machine, which cuts out the bullshit and just delivers the track.

But the promise is still there. I mean, shouldn't the mp3 blog work, somehow, somewhere? So far I've only found one that sorta works, and it might be calling it quits. Perhaps I'm asking too much of a group that's probably far more concerned with posturing and hit counts than with adding anything meaningful to musical discourse. But dammit...shouldn't people be writing something because they like to write?

Links

So I've been doing something I haven't done in awhile...and that's dawdling on the internet. Recently, I've been more or less going on the internet with a purpose. But not today! And here's some things I found:

Sports Guys NFL Preview

I'm actually excited about football season this year. That doesn't mean I'm going to wade through lots of NFL previews...but Bill Simmons is consistently the most entertaining sports column available. And I'll even read his NBA preview, and my interest in the NBA is lower than the NHL.

Chuck Klosterman's plan to save USA Basketball

Interesting idea, and it has the sort of "Miracle on Ice" mentality that's quite appealing. Though Klosterman quite openly wonders if it can work (and if it's legal).

Guest List: The Hold Steady

ZT's ongoing musical obsession talks about their obsessions. These don't always make for the most interesting reading, but I'm a sucker for anything about The Hold Steady.

And that's all. The internet is barren today...

NFL Picks, Week 1

So this year Ann and I revived an old Krogman family tradition…NFL picks. Each week, we simply pick the winner of each game (no point spreads) and see who does the best. With the season starting tonight (Miami at Pittsburgh at 8:30 pm), I figured I’d share my picks and some rationale for them. Plus, in coming weeks, I’ll share the results of the picks so you can follow along with how everyone is doing. Fun times? Of course!

Miami at Pittsburgh:

So Pittsburgh will be considered the best team in the league, and the announcers will talk like their shit don’t stink for at least half the season. But I’m still a bit worried about Roelishoweveryouspellit. I mean, wasn’t his jaw broken or something? And now he has appendicitis? And they lost Jerome Bettis? Now, I don’t know if I trust Culpepper against a good defense, but if there’s one thing about Culpepper, he’s an expert at performing early in the season before fizzling out. So I’ll let the Steeler’s have their first letdown early.

ZT’s pick: Miami

Atlanta at Carolina:

I dislike Michael Vick at levels that make me question my racial prejudices. Then I just realize he’s ridiculously overrated. But he is fun to watch…sometimes.

ZT’s pick: Carolina

Baltimore at Tampa Bay:

Steve McNair probably has one more good game in him, and this is it…

ZT’s pick: Baltimore

Buffalo at New England:

TOM BRADY IS A MODERN DAY JOE MONTANA!!! No matter how many times Sean Salisbury screams that, it will never be true. He is quite good though, and more than capable of dismantling the poor Bills.

ZT’s pick: New England

Cincinatti at Kansas City:

It’s probably just my dislike of the Reds spilling over, but what the hell, let’s go Chiefs…

ZT’s pick: Kansas City

Denver at St. Louis:

There are two hard and fast rules ZT lives by. Teams that play in domes are evil. Also, teams that do away with iconic stadium names like “Mile High Stadium” in favor of “Invesco Field” are evil as well. Domes, however, are slightly more evil.

ZT’s pick: Denver

New Orleans at Cleveland:

ZT has actually been to both of these cities for ultimate frisbee tournaments. I had fun at both, but as far as a nicer city, New Orleans wins out. Cleveland is ugly and kind of smells funny. Though I’d imagine New Orleans probably smells kind of funny right now too. But they have Reggie Bush now…and he’s nothing but beautiful.

ZT’s pick: New Orleans

NY Jets at Tennessee:

Here are two teams ZT has absolutely no feelings about positive or negative. Nor does he have any idea how good they will or will not be. It’s the most nondescript game on the docket. What the hell, the Jets have cooler uniforms.

ZT’s pick: NY Jets

Philadelphia at Houston:

ZT hates Philadelphia after that 4^th and 26 play in the 2003 playoffs. We don’t like to talk about that much anymore. However, Houston sucks…and will still suck. And they won’t even be exciting. But they’ll have a highly paid rookie defensive end. So I have to pick Philly.

ZT’s pick: Philadelphia

Seattle at Detroit:

Detroit’s just one of those teams that makes you feel better. Sure, the Packers went 4-12 last year, but at least they aren’t the Lions…

ZT’s pick: Seattle

Chicago at Green Bay:

ZT will always pick Green Bay for karma reasons. And besides, the Bears suck. Have they heard of the pass? I think they made the forward pass legal during the Coolidge administration. You can pass that memo on to Lovie Smith before the game…it’s not like the Bears actually have a quarterback or anything…

ZT’s pick: Green Bay

Dallas at Jacksonville:

I once saw an NFL Films that featured Terrell Owens and he seemed kind of nice. Turns out editing can do wonders for people.

ZT’s pick: Dallas

San Francisco at Arizona:

San Francisco drafted a TE in the first round, which is always a good idea. Like for the Giants and the Brown, who played in last year’s Super Bowl…

ZT’s pick: Arizona

Indianapolis at NY Giants:

When Peyton and Eli Manning faced each other in Battle of the Gridiron Stars, Eli usually won. However, I have to use this formula: Week 1 = Little Pressure. Peyton Manning will score 24 TDs…

ZT’s pick: Indianapolis

Minnesota at Washington:

Some facts about Minnesota:

1) While they gas on about having 10,000 lakes, they actually have fewer than Wisconsin.
2) Their state bird is the loon.
3) Their football team is basically a state embarrassment. I mean, they set new records for suck-i-tude. Yet the fans still vaguely love them. And they hate Brett Favre. This makes them bad people.

ZT’s pick: Washington

San Diego at Oakland:

Oakland almost brought Jeff George out of retirement. This is a bad sign. San Diego just handed the reigns to Philip Rivers. This is a bad sign. San Diego has a less frightening owner. This is a good sign.

ZT’s pick: San Diego