Midnight Family is a documentary that is well worth seeing. I saw it on DVD.
Month: March 2023
Tweet on Oreos history
Tweet on the Star Wars Holiday Special
The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978) was not well received and has never been officially released. It is on YouTube. There is now a documentary about it.
These guys played for the Orioles?
They were fine players for other teams and that’s how they are remembered. Most didn’t do much for the Orioles and many people have probably forgotten they played for them. For many of these guys, it was their last year in the majors.
End of career:
Vladimir Guerrero
Fernando Valenzuela
Joe Carter
Dwight Evans
Andy Van Slyke
Matt Nokes
Jim Thome
Kris Benson
Pat Hentgen
Ozzie Guillen
Mike Pagliarulo
Sammy Sosa
Derrick May
Jaret Wright
Heathcliff Slocumb
Sid Fernandez
Chris Sabo
Rick Burleson
Derrek Lee
Kevin Millwood
Tim Raines
Marty Cordova
Eric Davis
Francisco Rodriguez
Kevin Bass
Garrett Atkins
Juan Beniquez (Orioles gave up a first-round pick for one year of Beniquez’s career)
Lew Ford
Matt Harvey
Aurelio Rodriguez
Phil Bradley
Ron Kittle
Dickie Noles
Wayne Gross
Delino DeShields
Todd Zeile
Pete Incavglia
Fernando Tatis
Juan Guzman
Pedro Alvarez
Javy Lopez
Marv Thornberry (bad player for the early Mets)
Pete Smith
Jimmy Key
Will Clark
Lonnie Smith
Roger McDowell
Rick Helling
Wayne Gross
Kevin Millar
Jay Payton
Steve Trachsel
Freddy Garcia
Doug Drabek
Ray Knight
Middle of career:
Eric Byrnes
Lee Smith
Rich Hill
Randy Myers
David Wells
Tom Niedenfuer
LaTroy Hawkins
Doug Jones
Kent Mercker
Reggie Jackson (he went to my high school years before me)
Roberto Alomar
Jesse Orosco
Jeff Stone
Russ Ortiz
Beginning of career:
Justin Turner
Lou Piniella
Jose Bautista
Nestor Cortes
Christian Walker
Evan Phillips
Players who were on lots of teams
Mike Morgan
Edwin Jackson
Jamie Moyer
Some guys who never played for them in the majors:
Dontrelle Willis – played in the minors
Bob Horner (invited but didn’t play)
Kelly Gruber – spring training
Felix Hernandez – spring training, opted out when he didn’t make the major league roster
Julio Teheran (spring training and minors)
My thoughts on The Last Waltz
I recently watched The Last Waltz (1978) for the second time. I saw it in a theater as one of five customers on an afternoon show when it was new.
Here are some random comments:
It was sad to see so many young people in 1976 and know what happened to them later. Many of the performers are no longer with us.
There have been criticisms that the film focused too much on Robbie Robertson and they are valid.
Most of the songs are not complete but they are skillfully edited and well-photographed. Criterion has done a fine job with the Blu-ray disc.
Neil Diamond still sucks.
Muddy Waters is great.
None of the Band performances is better than the original recording. I saw them four times between 1970-1974 and thought they were better earlier. They were certainly more animated by 1976.
I wish they had credited the horn section players and arrangers (or did I miss it).
It’s surprising that the big group singalong (“I Shall Be Released”) and the final actual song they played (“Don’t Do It” were not originals. They had plenty of songs they wrote they could have selected.
Dylan’s choice of songs was odd. The performance of “Baby Let Me Follow You Down” is outstanding. I have never liked “Forever Young”. On the album, the Dylan/Band songs include “Hazel” a mediocre song from Planet Waves. Why?
People smoking cigarettes
No unusual song choices for the Band performances. This is true of their live albums too. It’s always “The Weight”, “Stage Fright”, “The Shape I’m In’, “Up On Cripple Creek”. I would like to have seen “Look Out Cleveland” or “Sleeping” for example.
Covers: Kumbaya
“Kumbaya” has a long history. The Black spiritual was first recorded in 1926 and was popular in the 1960s when I would have heard it.
Why do Florida voters support Trump or DeSantis over Biden if they disagree with their policies?
The only reason I can think of is white nationalism. That must be more important than guns, abortion, etc.
Sad! 