Sorry for the very short notice everyone, but this Friday (11/21) I will be playing at The Mean Fiddler in NYC.  I will be playing a 40-45 minute acoustic set as the opening act for the alt rock trio, NEED.  The venue is located near Times Square, at 266 West 47th Street b/t Broadway and 8th Ave.  Hope you can make it! 

Here’s a link to The Mean Fiddler - http://www.themeanfiddlernyc.com/index.php

Well, you haven’t heard from me on this topic for awhile.  Maybe you thought I was having a great season and therefore had no right to complain.  Not a great season, no, but I at least had a chance for once in all 3 leagues, even with injuries to players like Tom Brady, Brian Westbrook and Marcus Colston (what a monster disappointment this year, btw) and underwhelming years by guys like Chad Johnson (a big fat DITTO) and Peyton Manning (although he’s played well the last few games).  This week, however, one of my teams - and possibly my best team of the 3 - is officially out after losing a heartbreaker over the weekend.  On this team, I own 3 unquestionable talents in Peyton, Clinton Portis and Brandon Marshall.  I also have a solid supporting cast - Welker and Walter round out my starting WRs, Graham was my #2 RB until this week (but I also have DeAngelo Williams so no problem there) and a solid starting D with the Cardinals.  My only issue on this team was TE.  Most of the season I started Zach Miller, a very low-end starter despite all the hype coming into the year.  But I picked up Scheffler on waivers last week and started him instead.

Going into the weekend, that team was 4-6, even though I was third in the league in overall scoring.  Third!  So how was I 4-6?  I’m also one of the league leaders in points allowed.  I have had a number of rough losses this year in this league.  But still I had a shot since the other teams in my division were not running away with it.  I had to win last week, though, or I was out.  So what happened?  I started Carney as my K, and despite him having missed only one FG all year (and that one was blocked), Coughlin benched him right before gametime.  I couldn’t make the switch since no more add/drops were permitted, so I already knew going into the matchup I would get zero from my kicker.  Scheffler also disappointed me big time, with another zero.  Luckily, most of my remaining starters had great weeks, and I had a sizable lead over my opponent heading into Monday night.

Ah, Monday night, that’s where the heartbreak happened.  My opponent had 3 players going - Marshawn Lynch, Kellen Winslow and the Bills D.  Lynch has had a subpar season for a first round pick.  So, of course, he had his best game of the year.  Winslow was just average, but he did just enough, and then there’s the Bills D, with a 98-yd TD.  Put it all together and it was just enough to beat me….by less than a point!  9/10 of a point to be exact.  Yes, that’s how my season ended in that league.  Ironically, I’m now SECOND in overall scoring with no shot to make the playoffs.  Any fantasy addict would know how heartbreaking that is, and how angry I must feel over it!

So that leaves my other teams.  One is hanging by a thread at 6-5 but still has a shot if I win out.  The other team - the one I co-own - should make it, even though we lost Brady to start out the year.  So that’s the good news…for now.

The reviews are starting to come in!  Last week, my CD received a great review by music reviewer Annie Reuter of Review You.  She noted that my CD is “one of those albums that can be easily kept on repeat all day long,” and that “many of [my] songs could be easily heard on the radio.”  Great stuff!  Just the kind of feedback I like to hear!  Review You, the brainchild of publicist Ariel Hyatt of Ariel Publicity, is another great resource for independent artists.

To read the full review, click here - http://www.reviewyou.com/reviewView.php?ID=135

As virtually everyone has already recognized, today’s a historic day, one that everyone will remember and many of whom never thought they’d ever live to see.  I think it’s a great achievement that our nation elected Barack Obama as our next President.  It clearly represents a desire to change our leadership and how we conduct ourselves both here and abroad, buoyed by a message of hope and consensus.  That being said, I thought John McCain was very gracious in defeat.  His concession speech was excellent and showed his human side, something which I thought was missing from his campaign.  I frankly do not understand why politicians do not show their human side more often. 

It’s obviously a historic, emotional and ultimately triumphant day for African-Americans.   For possibly the first time in their lives, they truly feel they belong on equal footing and can now believe anything is possible.  In that respect, one could make the case that the Civil War didn’t really end until today.  What amazes me most, though, is how unified and optimistic this country suddenly appears.  I have been glued to the tube the last 2 days, primarily watching CNN, and I think what I am going to remember the most was watching all those crowds who were so euphoric when the results were announced.  I assumed there would be tears and outright jubilation, and there was.  But it wasn’t just African-Americans who felt that way.  Those crowds I saw on TV were as diverse as this nation is, with citizens of all ages, ethnicities, and religious faiths all sharing in the joy of the momentous occasion that they were witnessing together.  It was truly an awesome thing to see.  No matter who you voted for, that is something everyone can proud of. 

There’s no question that once he assumes office Barack Obama faces tremendous challenges ahead and may have a tough time meeting the high expectations that his supporters have of him and his future administration.  The honeymoon is going to be short, there is a ton of work to do and there’s still plenty of skepticism as to how much he can accomplish.  However, as many people have already pointed out, today seems like the start of something new and extraordinary for this country, and I sincerely hope that’s true.

As a musician, I’m a little reluctant to talk about my political views.  Amongst friends, I have no problem discussing politics, but the last thing I would want to do is to alienate any of my fans, either current or future ones.  Our political climate is as divisive as ever, and political conversation can trigger very intense feelings, especially after what this country has been through over the last 8 years.  Plus, music fans seem to prefer that the artists they listen to stick to what they do best - i.e., play good music - rather than advocate their political opinions.  The public reaction to the Dixie Chicks earlier this decade comes to mind, but there are plenty of other examples.  On the eve of Election Day, however, like many voters I firmly believe tomorrow is the most important election of my lifetime thus far, one that may define our country’s standing in the world  for years to come, and as such I wanted to blog about where I stand. 

I’ve been an Obama supporter since he threw his hat in the ring and that’s who I will be voting for tomorrow.  Simply stated, I think he gives us the best chance of turning this country around after a very rough 8 years, a time during which our international standing has plummeted, our domestic prosperity hangs in the balance, and our citizenry is as polarized as ever.   I believe Barack Obama will restore our goodwill abroad and our economy back home.  I also believe he will safeguard our environment and our individual freedoms much more than our current President.  I understand there’s some skepticism about Obama given his lack of experience or that he might be too liberal for some people’s tastes, and there is nothing wrong with a healthy dose of skepticism toward any candidate, for you never really know how things will go until after the fact.  But during a time in which our faith in nearly everything that has made this country great has been rocked to the core, where virtually everyone, Republican or Democrat, is fed up with where we are and where we might be headed, we need to turn the page and start fresh with a new kind of leader.  One who prefers not to lead by the politics of fear and hate; and one who can bring consensus and restore people’s optimism.  Barack Obama provides that possibility.  John McCain doesn’t.  The John McCain of 2000 may have been able to, when he was a true maverick, and that’s too bad because the John McCain of 2008 seems to be no different than our current President, no matter what he says.  He has really looked out of touch.  Moreover, his choice of Sarah Palin as his VP was reckless and dangerous.  She is charismatic to be sure and her views are in sync with the GOP base, but not with anyone else, and her distorted views of the powers of a VP and lack of understanding of the Constitution in general are even more frightening (if not the somewhat logical extension of the expansive policies of the Bush administration), so much so that even many long-time conservatives are supporting Obama.  In sum, I believe choosing McCain/Palin is choosing more of the same, and that is the last thing we need right now. 

Of course, it would also send a great message and show how far we’ve come if we could elect the first African-American president in our nation’s history.  Conversely, if race happens to play any significant part in a McCain victory, then it’s quite possible that race relations within this country would be set so far back that I would wonder if we could ever recover from it.

So that’s it.  I could elaborate my views much further, but I think you get the picture.  Besides, at this late hour there is so much election fatigue there’s really not much more to say than hasn’t been already said.  If you are a McCain supporter, I hope you don’t take my opinions personally.  Again, I understand politics are a tough thing to agree on sometimes.  Nevertheless, I very much hope tomorrow night Obama emerges as the victor, and I’ll admit I’d be very disappointed (and nervous) if he doesn’t. 

Hello everyone.  Last week, my CD received a great review from Indielaunchpad.com.  Check it out.  It’s a great site for reviews of independent artists like myself.  There’s also an accompanying podcast hosted by indielaunchpad founder, Colin Meeks.  My song Friend In Need is mentioned in the podcast (#111), along with 5 songs by other independent artists.  Friend In Need is track #5 in the podcast.  My song comes in at around the 25 minute mark of the podcast but I urge you to listen to the whole thing as there are some other great indie tracks there.  Here’s a link - http://podcast.indielaunchpad.com/2008/10/indie-launchpad-podcast-111.html

Will be in touch again soon with more exciting news!

Oops!  I erroneously blogged about the 3rd episode in Dexter this season, which hasn’t even been broadcasted yet.  Sorry about that, people.  I was, of course, referring to the 2nd episode, “Finding Freebo,” which was great and vanquished any thought that Dexter had jumped the shark.  My apologies.  Kudos to my good friend CB for calling me out on this and making me look stupid!  I don’t know why I thought there were 3 episodes already.  I was a little distracted during the first episode, in part because I couldn’t stop dwelling about how I screwed up my fantasy lineup that week by forgetting to take out Westbrook since he was hurt.  Yeah, that must’ve been it!

While I was watching the 3rd episode of the new season last night, I admit that for a brief while I wondered whether this show had jumped the shark.  The 2nd season was so unbelievably good and suspenseful that the first few episodes of the new season seemed to be sort of a letdown.  I just wondered if they could top what they did in season 2.  The jury’s still out on that, but for now it’s safe to say that this show has a lot of life left in it!  No shark jumping just yet…

Well, Yankee fans, would you look at that?  Last night, Joe Torre and the Dodgers finished off the Cubs and are moving on to the next round of the playoffs.  They outplayed them and totally stunned both the Cubs and their fans in the process.  In the center of it all was Torre.  Seeing him so relaxed in the dugout in October reminded me of how he used to look when the Yanks were dominating everyone in the late 90’s.  Calm and composed.  As he has already pointed out, this Dodgers run is reminiscent of ‘96.  Taking an underdog team full of youth and a few savvy veterans that few thought would make it this far - although we all know Manny Ramirez has a LOT to do with that (and maybe everything to do with it).  Still, he’s still here and the Yankees aren’t, and the way his team is playing right now, they have a legitimate shot to make it to the World Series, possibly in a fateful encounter with the Red Sox.  A lot of people seem to be rooting for that now - that would be exciting for sure.  Even if that doesn’t happen, you could easily see the glee and joy in Torre’s face last night as he said that this was as gratifying as it gets.  You know that was his way of telling the Yankees, “I told you so.”

So, to the Steinbrenner family, do you feel stupid for running this guy out of town?  Because right now, maybe you should.

Honestly, does any Met fan really lament the end to this decrepit stadium?  I know I can’t wait until every piece of this lame stadium is dismantled and gone, and that was before the Mets once again stuck a dagger in everyone’s hearts by losing to the Marlins today 4-2 and in doing so failing to capitalize on Johan’s masterpiece yesterday.  Complete deja vu.  Their playoff hopes die yet again on the final day of the season, and yet again to the Marlins.  And like last year, when John Maine pitched a spectular game on the penultimate day of the season, the Mets failed to show up when it truly counted.  Yes, there was no 7-run first inning like last year against Glavine, but that was about the only difference.

Oliver Perez pitched a decent game, even though he gave up 2 runs.  You really can’t blame him for losing today.  Beltran came through with a 2-run HR to tie the game, leaving the Mets destiny in the hands of the bullpen.  You already know what happened next.  Back-to-back HRs in the 8th off Met relievers, and the game was basically over.  No big time rally in the 9th.  No second coming of 1986.  Nothing.

I guess it’s appropriate that this Met season died in the hands of its bullpen, another and final reminder of how bad it has been.  This is hands down the worst bullpen in the league, and they weren’t that good even when Wagner was healthy.  They blew somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 games!  As any Met fan knows, no lead was safe with these guys.  Give the Mets any other bullpen and they’d be in the playoffs right now.  Honestly, I don’t know how any Met fan could root for any of these guys next year.  This entire bullpen should go before next season.  You thought it was tough to deal with the hangover of 2007?  In some ways, this is tougher, even though the collapse was not nearly as dramatic.  And you know journalists are going to have a field day writing about how these Mets are cursed.  At this point, I can’t blame them for saying that. 

The most pathetic part to today was watching Gary Cohen try to convince viewers to watch the Mets post-game closing ceremonies.  This is not a knock on the dozens of Met alumni who were there.  I actually enjoyed the pre-game and in-game bits with guys like Tom Seaver, Darryl Strawberry, and yes, even Dwight Gooden (he wasn’t too talkative, but it was good to see him back in a Met uniform).  Mike Piazza, in particular, was a great guest in the booth during the last few games.  But now, none of this matters.  Even Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling knew.  They were obvious expressing their disappointment after the game.  Do you think anyone attending the game today really wanted to stay after that loss?  Do you think Hernandez and Darling really thought we’d want to keep watching?  I didn’t bother watching it.  How could I?  The Mets should have known better and scheduled all of this before the game.  Instead, they now have to go through the motions and show everyone all these great Shea memories.  Let me save you the time - here are the only ones worth remembering:

1969; 1986; 1973’s Ya Gotta Believe (we’re not gonna win the WS); Robin Ventura’s grand-single in 1999; the WS run in 2000; Piazza’s HR in the first game after 9/11; and Endy Chavez’ game saving catch in the 2006 NLCS. 

And there you have it.  Over 40 years of stadium memories summed up in 2 lines.

Now good riddance!