in case you didnt hear, or incase youre not a baseball fan, heres what happened

it was a tie game, it was Manny Ramirez bobblehead night but Manny couldn’t start because he had been hit by a pitch the night before. he’s only played a few games after being suspended for most of the season for taking stuff thats against baseballs rules. something to do with female hormones.

but like i said it was a tie game, with the bases loaded in the 6th inning so Joe Torre figured he might not get another chance to break the game wide open with one swing, so he called on Manny who, on the first pitch, blasted a grand salami into the left field seats otherwise known as Mannywood.

Vin Scully said it was the loudest Dodger Stadium has been in 20 years and said that it was the greatest moment since Kurt Gibson hit one out in the world series.

needless to say the Times has amazing coverage even including a little bit of something from yrs trly.

long time host of the busblog, longer time musician and southern gentleman,
os first came to this planet disguised as a copyeditor for the world famous daily nexus

no one initially knew what his deal was, but we trusted that he came in peace

armingly quiet, like a boozy gremlin if you added some red wine os would find himself yirping from atop a desk or small vehicle

YIRP hed say

YIRP!

and then he’d hop down.

not sure when os learned how to play the guitar or sing, but one day he showed up with probably the most beautiful guitar in all america and when youd least expect it hed be strumming it and then playing it and then serenading the stars with his calm, perfect tone

did he secretly record vocals for Tsar? yes
did he somewhat secretly marry my lawyer? cant remember
do they have two of the most adorable kids since sliced bread? si!

my only regret in life is not following all of my friends to Prague back when they all moved out there and changed the world as we know it.

i dont regret missing out on trying to start that country’s first english language newspaper, i regret seeing german tourists form huge semi circles on charles bridge to listen to Os’s international hits.

happy birthday kind sir, and many happy returns!

photos via joel brand’s facebook

in Austin is shutting down after 10 years

the sad part about it is that its been a labor of love for UCSB alumn Asher Garber who not only opened up the club to up n coming bands, but also to LAist and later the LA Times.

but whats worse is the Red River club scene was basically started by Asher and his unique vision to put Isla Vista style grungy punk into the mix of Austin’s eclectic music stylings.

Austinist interviewed our man today who reflected on his reign of awesome:

[Austinist:] What was the Red River St. music scene like back then as compared with now? What do you consider to be (a) positive changes and (b) negative changes on Red River St. since Room 710 set up shop?

[Asher:] The bands that established the Red River scene were never appreciated by the (Austin) Chronicle, and so not many people knew what we had going on. When we started in 2000, the only places open on our block were the Red Eyed Fly, Bull McCabes, and Atomic Cafe. Stubb’s had their shows, but we just did our own thing. We began with 3 band nights, moved on to 4 band nights. We did a couple 10 bands in two nights. (The Independence CD compilation is a good guide to what we had going on back then.) When Beerland opened, it brought another venue that could play 3 or 4 bands a night, and we got to see how the different places got people to interact. It was easy to co-exist. Add Elysium taking over Atomic, Headhunters, and then Side Bar around the corner and that was the basis of our district. We pooled our resources and bought an ad. Got free red ink.

2004 saw the start of the boom in our neighborhood and 2005 was a real tough year for 710. (Woody left, the smoking ban, added competition.) When I read on the Austinist that The Mohawk was seen as “Red River North” and Emo’s was considered “Red River South” I realized that the Red River District was something beyond us.

[Austinist:] What is the number one reason for Room 710 shutting down? Why has it been a struggle to generate profits at the club?

[Asher:] There are a lot of reasons, but the bottom line is that it takes a lot of money to run a live music venue, and between the economy, the taxes, and a flight from downtown (whether by fear, economy, or hassle), 710 simply isn’t a solvent institution.

Read the whole Austinist interview with Asher here, and if you want to see the diversity of taste that Asher has, check out his top ten list of Room 710 touring bands that he did for me when i was running LAist.

so, mom, i wrote about the newest senator, al franken yesterday

and his first order of business, which was to get service dogs for hundreds of war veterans

all because of a golden retriever named Tuesday. awwwww