Recovering from last week’s shows, getting ready for this week’s. Thinking of tie-ins for our band name. Like a drink, maybe. Anybody know of a drink that needs a name? I can’t promise you much. A t-shirt. And my gratitude. If you have a drink that you think could be called a “Chin Wagger” drop me a line. I suppose we could name a drink “Ducksnort” but good luck finding anyone to drink that.

With baseball season over (okay, technically the playoffs are still happening), I’ve been reading like a madman. Finished Neil Peart’s Traveling Music last week. Now I’m about 100 pages into Bill Bryson’s modestly titled A Short History of Nearly Everything. I’d tell you about ‘em but college pretty much killed my desire to write about books. It’s hard for me to be objective about either writer, anyway, because I’m fond of both. They are very good at getting me curious about the things they find curious.

I’ve also become infatuated with the band Death Cab for Cutie. Not only do they have the coolest name ever, they also have a fine album out called Transatlanticism. There isn’t a weak tune on it, but the lead track, “The New Year,” is a sonic feast that has absolutely captured me. The guitar tones are warm and rich, the playing is aggressive yet precise, the lyrics are engaging and intelligent, and the production is fantastic. The entire CD is like that. So many lush sounds, so many captivating lyrical and musical phrases. The reviews I’ve read compare them to other recent indie bands, but I hear a variety of influences from 20-30 years ago which are diverse enough that no single one dominates.

So that’s what I’ve been doing and why I haven’t been blogging. Now, a few items of interest to Padres fans:

• Baseball America named Khalil Greene their Rookie of the Year. This hasn’t made their web site yet, but Greene adorns the cover of the current issue. With any luck, the writers will follow suit.
• Petco Park named “New Park of the Year” by BaseballParks.com
• Caminiti joins list of sad Padres deaths (U-T)

Now back to my cave…

Tagged as: baseball america, bill bryson, death cab for cutie, khalil greene, neil peart, petco park, rookie of the year, transatlanticism