What better way to spend a hot Sunday morning in August in Scottsdale—throwing tomatoes at one another. Sponsored by Sol y Sambra, a local restaurant, this event is a replicable of one that happens in Spain at the end of the tomato harvest. It’s supposed to be all in fun, but it sure was a great way to get out a lot of aggression. Splat!

The real highlight of the evening was The Charlie Shafter Band. Rhapsody classifies them as "roots" music, but I will tell you they were fantastic not matter what you call their music.

Monday night was the KB Talent Showcase at Antone's. Granger Smith, who has been to Iraq, the White House and had his music on the space shuttle, was one of the lead performers.

Strange but fascinating critters.

A look at the bayfront memorial for Selena, the famous singer killed in the prime of her life (just a few miles from the site of the memorial).

Our day started our fairly miserably by the beach on North Padre Island but it turned around once we left the place and headed down to the bay front of Corpus Christi with the eventual destination of Whataburger Field, the home of the AA Texas League Corpus Christi Hooks. The Hooks were hosting the Frisco Roughriders, and it was mini trashcan night.

 

The park is magnificent in its setting, attention to detail, atmosphere and fan fun/friendly atmosphere. The Hooks won 9-4 in an entertaining but somewhat raggedly played game (five errors). The key player for the Hooks was third baseman Chris Johnson, a former 4^th Round pick out of Stetson. He hit a three-run homer which was the catalyst for turning things around.

 

After the game, there was a strange ball toss event as fans could buy a ball for $1 and the groundscrew put buckets on the field and fans had to land one in the bucket to win a cash prize. Sadly, my ball fell several feet short of the target.

Our Lone Star Summer has taken us to some strange places, and today we wound up in North Padre Island which is the Gulf of Mexico beach side of Corpus Christi. No one will mistake it for Cannes or even Destin, Florida, but lots of folks come here to enjoy the beach. About 10 miles down the road you hit Port Aransas, a fishing village that has some restaurants and the normal touristy stuff. Between here and Port Aransas, there appears to be some newer condos and homes on the beach.

 

So, I ask, what’s with this driving on the beach? As someone who grew up going to the Jersey Shore, I can assure you driving on the beach is as far from my frame of reference as possible. To each his own. Wonder if AAA will take calls to dig your car out of the sand?

Our Lone Star Summer has taken us to some strange places, and today we wound up in North Padre Island which is the Gulf of Mexico beach side of Corpus Christi. No one will mistake it for Cannes or even Destin, Florida, but lots of folks come here to enjoy the beach. About 10 miles down the road you hit Port Aransas, a fishing village that has some restaurants and the normal touristy stuff. Between here and Port Aransas, there appears to be some newer condos and homes on the beach.

 

So, I ask, what’s with this driving on the beach? As someone who grew up going to the Jersey Shore, I can assure you driving on the beach is as far from my frame of reference as possible. To each his own. Wonder if AAA will take calls to dig your car out of the sand?

Been a long time in coming: we drove six-plus hours from Austin to this little-known beach paradise on the Gulf of Mexico. It might not be a built up as the Florida Panhandle, but the surf, seafood and sun are great.

Local singer-songwriter Aimee Bobruk performs at the Saturday downtown Austin Farmers Market.

It was an Austin thing, and the reason we moved here p/t. We left our place with no particular destination, just hoping to hear music. We were headed to the Elephant Room (jazz is not my producer’s cup of tea) so when it started raining, we dashed over to Sullivan’s a steakhouse (from the Del Frisco people) which has a small bar that features lives music. To our great delight, we discovered Adam McInnis a musician who, along with his large band (on a small stage) was absolutely memorable. We bought his demo CD (we now are gathering a collection of local artists) and will be seeing him on July 11, again at Sullivan’s. If you are in the area, do not miss him.

It's a green day at the Austin Farmers Market with cucumbers, squash and tomatoes out in full force. Performing is the bluegrass band, the Grass Onions.

A guitarist entertains passers-by along the Piccadilly Line on my way to train headed back to Gloucester Road.

My 4th trip to Borough Market in London yielded many treasures: Chelsea Buns, flavored sea salts, exotic dried fruits, fabulous olives...

Wednesday nights are kinda slow in downtown Austin (relatively speaking) with music really hitting its stride Thursday night through Saturday. Along 6^th (North of Congress), we stopped into a few places and happened upon a band called Wilson playing at the open air venue of The Belmont restaurant. Here’s their rendition of “We Won’t Get Fooled Again.”

Since the day we moved here, I have wanted to walk up 6^th Street to Whole Foods (about one mile) and look at all the restaurants along the way—and there are many. The one I have been dying to stop in to try is Hut’s Hamburgers, one of those places heralded by Jane and Michael Stern in their Roadfood site and books. To say the least, we were not disappointed.

We walked out the front door and headed two blocks down Colorado and there on the right side is Antone’s, the legendary Austin music venue. It was a quiet Monday night and it was Super Soul Monday, featuring Flyjack and Uncle Bruno. These two local bands were just fantastic as they played for close to three hours wit ha few songs in which members of one band jammed with the other. This was truly one of the great reasons we moved to Austin.

Having owned a second home before, we quickly learned that transportation costs can get out of hand. For starters, our new place is in the middle of everything in Austin—food, music, etc…--so we can either walk everywhere or take Capital Metro, a great local public transit system.

Where you can really rack up the expense is in getting to and from the airport. In Austin, however, for 50 cents, you can take the Airport Flyer (Capital Metro 100) from ABIA and you whisked into downtown or the UT campus in minutes.

Been a while since I have been at the video switch. Our first day in our new second home in Austin included visits to the two Saturday farmers markets, one down the street at 4^th and Guadalupe and the other out in Sunset Valley. And if you are the live music capital of the world, there would have to be music at the markets. At the Downtown Market there’s Brian Byrne and Borrowed Time; out in Sunset Valley, it was a fill in for one of the regulars, so I didn’t catch his name

Phillies are off to an 0-2 start. This clip, courtesy of Redlasso, is from ESPN.

We missed them at SXSW and are kicking ourselves of not seeing thm live at Stubbs.
Anyway, the first song for the new album, Accelerate, is Supernatural Superserious. It will be song of the year.

Spring training came to an end with all the Arizona games starting an hour earlier to allow teams to make a quick get-away. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but the 10-10 tie between the Cubs and Brewers seemingly went on forever. Because the teams play each other early in the season, neither used any of their regular pitchers (for the most part), so naturally it was a high-scoring affair.

A few notes: it was really cool seeing George Foster before the game, signing autographs alongside Fergie Jenkins. He looks as mean as the day he smacked more than 50 homers in a season (back went it meant something). Also, I will tell you that Kosuke Fukudome is the real deal. He has an arm like Ichiro and looks like he may have the pop of Matsui. The Cubs may have themselves a right fielder.  (The best once since Jim Hickman).

Sad to say Cubs fans, I think the Brewers are better than your boys this year. If the Brewers get any pitching, they will win the NL Central. They can mash.

Andruw Jones  is now patrolling center field for the Dodgers after playing his first 1,761 games with the Braves. He might be a solid addition, but he looks beefy in his Dodger Blues. ESPN says he’s 210—now way, he’s easy 225-240. 

I think about the first time I saw Larry Bowa:  he was a good field, no hit shortstop coming up through the Phillies ranks in the ‘70s.  In the minors, we was teamed with Denny Doyle and later found his calling when he was paired with Dave Cash as the Phillies double-play combo. Bowa, a former manager and coach, now is the third base coach with the Dodgers and is a true testament to what hard work can do for your career in baseball.

Well, it was history in the making when the Los Angeles Dodgers hosted the Los Angeles Angles in a stadium outside of Southern California. After 55 years in Vero Beach, Florida, the Dodgers are moving their spring training home to Arizona next year. As a warm-up, the Dodgers played the Angels in a game at the spring training home of the A’s who are in Japan getting ready to be slaughtered by the Bosox to open the season.

It was a huge crowd mostly filled with Dodgers fans who have been longing to see their team in spring training. A seven-hour drive versus a flight to Florida…you do the math.

It was semi-surrealistic to see the blue uniforms on a spring training field, and LA started most of their regulars except for the handful who are hurt. It was also really odd to see Joe Torre in an LA uniform wearing Steve Garvey’s old number.

The Angels look fairly formidable even without Vlad in the lineup. Torii Hunter is a huge addition to the team, and speaking of huge, Andruw Jones, the new centerfielder for the Dodgers, looks like he spent the offseason exercising the knife and fork.

Ah, one more note: with Nomar and Andy LaRoche on the disabled list, Blake DeWitt, one of the Dodgers top prospects is filling in at third base. He is a native of Sikeston, Missouri, the home of Lambert's, the top place to pig out in America (according to the Travel Channel).

This is the life: sunny afternoon, A’s hosting the Diamondbacks in front of a full house at Phoenix Muni. Doug Davis (the most deliberate pitcher on earth) facing Dana Eveland whom the A’s got from the D-backs in the Haren deal. The A’s won 2-1 in a  well-played effort that is typical of the later stages of Spring Training. Emilio Bonafacio on the D-backs looks impressive and gives Arizona hope if they (foolishly) pass on signing Orlando Hudson to a deal; this is his walk year.

These clearly are teams headed in opposite directions. It’s odd to see the Diamondbacks roll out a lineup that looks solid from 1-7/8 depending on who’s in the rotation. Good drafting and a few smart trades (like the ones for Chris Young and Hudson) go a long way to building a winner.

Lots of featured players: Upton, Drew, Keith Foulke (he’s back in an A’s uni) and a hard-throwing young lefty on the A’s, Blevins, who is so skinny… well, add your own joke here.

The calendar said March, so it’s time for another season on baseball. Our first Cactus League game took us to Phoenix Muni to see the Oakland A’s host the Milwaukee Brewers.  Both teams started some of their regulars, but the game quickly turned into a showcase for the group of players hoping to make the final, 40-man roster.

These clearly are teams going in opposite directions: the A’s are totally rebuilding while the Brew Crew are hoping to win the National League Central.  Featured in this video are a handful of players including Ryan Braun, Matt LaPorta (#1 Brewers prospect), Carlos Gonzalez (who came from the D-backs in the trade for Dan Haren), personal favorite Huston Street and former (emphasis on former) great closer Eric Gagne. To say Gagne looked awful is an understatement.

Jack Cust, a one-dimensional slugger on the A’s hit two homers. Interesting in light of the fact he was mentioned in the steroids report.

After a few lousy weather days, the sun was out on a beautiful Sunday morning in Austin for the AT&T Austin Marathon. It ran along Congress heading south and then wound around the city before ending back on Congress a few blocks south of the Capital Building. As possible newcomers to the area, we were taken with the spirit of those who not only ran but came to enjoy the scene.

Yes, it’s the first week of February and baseball is back. Here in Arizona, after a long cold period (40 is cold here), the sun is out, it’s 70 and baseball is in the air. Down by Chase Field, the Arizona Diamondbacks hob-knobbed with the fans in their annual fan fest. This year, it was a better organized event than last year with player autograph tables set up inside the park with a few interactive stands outside. Maybe I am sounding like a “homer,” but the Diamondback players seem to be a fairly nice group of guys that are patient with their adoring fans.

Featured here are a host of players: Conor Jackson, Chad Tracy, Orlando Hudson, Mark Reynolds, Chris Young, Stephen Drew, etc…

The day before the big game, the Valley (of the Sun) is full of events related to Super Bowl 42. There are parties (to which we are not invited), private functions (such as one hosted by Chris Berman) and events such as two flag football games for charity. We went to the Celebrity Flag Football Challenge which was hosted by former NFL star, Doug Flutie (on behalf of his charity). For some unknown reason, the game was out in Surprise at the spring training home of the Royals and Rangers.

The game was really fun with DMC performing at halftime. We actually arrived at halftime and missed the Flutie Brothers Band but saw the second half which featured Flutie, Chad Johnson, Willis McGahee, A.J. Feeley and others…

I am truly impressed with how the NFL players handle themselves with the fans. They are far more cordial and natural and don’t seemed annoyed by the fan worship. Cardinals kicker Neil Rackers stood in the concourse and chatted with fans for 10-15 minutes just having a good time.

We finally got into the Super Bowl 42 mix by attending the NFL Experience down by the University of Phoenix Stadium, site of the big game.

It was a long, and I mean long walk from the parking lot adjacent to the event and the line for folks waiting to buy tickets was outrageous and wouldn’t be surprised if it was a 90 minute wait, and this was late in the afternoon.  We had to wait in a short line for will call tickets.

Once inside, it was crowded, but well organized. The “Experience”  included a number of interactive events (kicking, throwing, running, catching) that also had long lines, exhibits of such things as uniforms throughout the years and sponsored booths featuring current and former NFL players. That was our main focus.

This video includes: Chad Johnson, Brayon Edwards, Reggie Wayne, Antonio Gates, Marc Bulger, Alex Smith and a host of others. The players were all friendly and some even talked on fans’ cell phones, saying their hellos to jealous friends “back home.”

The NFL Experience is still going today, but it would not be someplace I’d want to be near given the traffic, crowds, etc.. We’re off to another SB 42 event.

Our last encounter with the RedBall Project came as part of the Super Bowl 42 festivities. Well, maybe not exactly, but we saw it about a block from the ESPN stage at the Scottsdale Waterfront and in the middle of SB42 Party Central. The ball was outside the Bentley Gallery as part of the Thursday night “artwalk” which is different than the Super Bowl Artwalk scheduled for Feb 2.

We missed a few of the Red Ball’s stops in Scottsdale this past week—a combination of bad planning and misreading of its schedule. We would have loved to have seen it at the Arabian Library, a cool new library that has an odd entry-way that would be perfect for the Red Ball.

We caught up with the Red Ball as it sat (was perched?) in a Ramada at Pinnacle Peak Park. The park was busy with hikers and climbers wanting to make their way up the mountain. Yes, we have mountains in the desert.  Next stop will be at a senior center in Scottsdale (which we will miss) with other stops in Downtown/Old Scottsdale later in the week as it gets closer to Super Bowl 42.

The first stop in Scottsdale for The RedBall Project was The Marshall Way Trolley Bridge. In the background is the Scottsdale Waterfront (I kid you not). We really do have a waterfront.

Circled in red on our calendars was our first Big Event of 2008: The RedBall Project. The RedBall is a large red ball (obviously) made of PVC that moves from city to city (and in Scottsdale within the city) and sits in various locations awaiting interaction. Or not. The Red Ball is public art and an experiment in human interaction. From what we read, as the ball has visited such ports of call as Portland, Sydney and Barcelona, some folks gently touch it while others try and pound on it. Part of the fun over the next few days will be observing the Red Ball locally (and how folks in these parts interact with it) as it moves from downtown Scottsdale to a skate park up near our part of the city to a new library to … well, you will have to tune in later to see where it’s headed next and how it fared.

We were lucky enough to meet Kurt Perschke, the artist behind the RedBall Project.  This first clip has some thoughts from Perschke on the RedBall Project.

 

 

While most folks are watching the Colts-Chargers game in the Rio Hotel sports book, a dancer struts her stuff on top of a bank of slot machines.

Here’s a look at the Mercado in central Mazatlan during our second shore excursion from the Carnival Pride.

As we work on getting our land legs back from a week at sea, one of the highlights of our Mexican Riviera Cruise was a serenade by a mariachi group while we ate lunch at The Shrimp Factory in Cabo San Lucas.

Back in March, I created a video that has sparked some controversy. It was called “Barry Bonds is the Greatest.”  I endured a lot of negative comments and stood hopeful. I had hoped that the 2007 season would be one in which he not only broke the home run record (which he did), but one in which he came clean with the baseball world and especially the fans. So, he’s dropped by the Giants, indicated on perjury charges and has become a pariah.

Result: I think he’s a bum. Good riddance. Henry Aaron is the home run king.

Our 2007 season baseball season, which started off in Spring Training and includes stops in Memphis, Cleveland and Albuquerque, ended with the 2007 Arizona Fall League Championship. The game featured the Surprise Rafters against the Phoenix Desert Dogs, perennial league champs. The game was close until the late innings when the Dogs pulled away and won 7-2. The crowd was a very disappointing 1,200 or so which, I think, is the lowest attendance for the finals in recent memory. There were no Diamondbacks or Giants on either of the teams, and that’s generally a crowd-drawing factor.

Among the future stars who truly shined were: from the Dogs, Andrew McCutchen (Pirates); Pirate teammate Nyjer Morgan; Ryan Sweeny (White Sox); pitchers Nick Blackburn (starter, Twins) and bullet-throwing reliever Bob McCrory. From the Rafters, John Mayberry Jr. (Rangers), whose father was in the stands; Elvis Andrus (Rangers) and Sean Rodriguez (Angels), who homered for one of the two Rafter runs.

It was a great AFL season. I just wish more fans knew about the league and came to the games. It’s truly more fun that Spring Training. If only they had decent souvenirs.