Manifesto

Movies and TV and Plays rarely get the same ratio of "feel" out of me like Music and Fine Art does, yet I dont really make any work in those forms of media. Im trying to become solely cross influenced in my own work. Music is what inspires me the most, very often I get these vivid emotions or feelings that are connected to the work, and I want desperately to somehow take these feelings I get via music into the physical realm of my own art. Same with paintings, I can relate immensely to certain works, and sometimes I will even get moved in a certain way by them, the job then is to move those feelings and emotions into the physical world of acting.

How do I do this? Well I get positively inspired by rap music, Lil Wayne for instance makes me really energetic, I want to party and have a good time. For a character needing that energy, even if its a serious role, the vibe and inner feel I get from listening to Tha Carter III can very easily be poured out into my work, especially if the character required an energetic entrance. The entrance is extremely important, I often feel that Lil Wayne can influence whatever energy I give off right from the start and even if its an angry role, or a scared role, the energy will still fathom itself to the benefit of the scene.

If I was playing a character who was hiding from something, Id mix in some darker music, maybe Joy Division or Death In June or something like that. If I was playing a stoner Id throw on some Dead Meadow, if I was playing a violent character Id add in some hardcore or metal.

My point is to show that all forms of artistic expressions are interlocked and there's no need to blindly follow the one you chose as your source of inspiration.

I was right.

I swore we were so lost
The highways were dark and getting darker
Side street onto side street onto side street
The way a nervous helplessness washed over us
I swore we were done for.

Street signs in the distance
A light (maybe)
Raised voices
Icy roads
We died.

Influential music videos

I have always been immensely into visualizing music for whatever reason, maybe its because my mom was really into MTV when it came out in the early 80s and always had it on. Here's a list of songs that have videos that left their mark on me.

Talking Heads - Burning Down the House.

Talking Heads - Burning down the house
by Dan_of_the_Land

I was really into this song in 1983 before I was in school. I used to wake up too early for sesame street and MTV would be on and they would be playing weird music videos by avant garde artists. My mom would get up and around the time Sesame Street came on, but would then switch it back to MTV and we'd often watch it together. I miss those times.

Joy Division - Atmosphere.

Joy Division Atmosphere
by DrEuthanasia

I got into this band by watching this live set of them, it was the reverb-drenched guitar that drew me in, but it was learning about the band, then watching the video for this song which really moved me. I still struggle to not choke up when I hear this song.

Laurie Anderson - O Superman.

O - Superman
by captpicard

This was an initial foray into performance art and mixed media for me. There's just something about how her breath, the "ah" that drives the song and makes it something special then the synth comes in to really add another layer of intensity. Funnily enough Ive named checked this when appropriate and nearly always ended up having a 15 minute conversation about it with someone I either dont or barely know. I watched this video after Adam Horovitz described it as being "crazy hype". I cant think about this song without picturing the red spotlight and the moving hand and Laurie with the light in her mouth. A legendary piece.

Sonic Youth - Teenage Riot.

Sonic Youth - Teenage Riot
by Dan_of_the_Land

Pretty much everything that was awesome in the world from 1970-1990 is contained in this video.

Nick Cave - The Mercy Seat.

Nick Cave - The Mercy Seat
by belair

Im not afraid to die. Thrilling, mesmerizing and utterly enthralling. I remember not being able to look away the first time I saw it when I was 14. It was like a prophet speaking directly to me and I was scared as hell, yet unable to look away.

Pulp - Common People.

Pulp - Common People
by Hellheaven

Such vivid colors, a painfully intriguing and charismatic frontman and an outright anthem of a song that makes you want to dance and fuck and singalong to it. Sounds like something that should happen more often but no one ever does it right. I remember the tabloids were always talking about how sexually ambiguous Jarvis was, but I was always wondering what band were they looking at. This might be the straightest video ever, I guess hindsight is 20/20 and this is like watching Judas Priest videos and wondering why you never thought Rob Halford was gay before.

Wu Tang Clan - Triumph.

Wu tang clan-Triumph
by liquiddreams54

At the time, this was the most expensive music video ever made, and it was another one of those moments where I didn't dare blink. Who were these guys? There's so many of them, I love the nametag that appears, it forces you to know their names and after all, it was supposed to be their intro to the mainstream music world. I used to hang out with mad Asian cats in high school because we were really into the Wu. Rza has black wings in this video, think about it.

Deerhunter - Strange Lights / My Bloody Valentine - Soon.

Deerhunter "Strange Lights" (2007)
by orphanie

I love these two videos because they are such VIBE-oriented. You really are looking at the visual versions of the music. If you watched them with the sound off you'd probably get pretty close to the original songs, or at least the intrinsic feeling that the artists were aiming at when creating these songs.

Paintin the Corners (a monologue)

Well, I came up as a fireballin 22 year old startin pitcher with the Cleveland Indians, in 1947. I had raced through the minors pretty quick, and reached the big leagues 2 years after breakin my poor mamas heart and leavin my hometown of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Growin up, it was my mama who gave me the chore of throwin the rotten apples from our apple tree over the fence, what she didnt know was that there was a hole in that fence, and to pass the time while doin chores, id try and throw the apples through that hole, i got pretty good at it too, could do it 9 out of 10 tries. Anyway my pa saw me doin this one day and tol me "looks like youre gunna be a pitcher" and that was that. Before I knowed it I was on the High School team, then signing a contract with Cleveland....close to home and my mama.

In 1948 we won the World Series and I was the toast of the town, everywhere I went things didnt cost me nuthin no more, and the ladies were always battin their eyelashes at me. Things were going well until 1950, when a photograph of me in a jazz club with a cigarette was shown in the papers...but there wasnt no tobacco in that there smoke, it was filled with what they called "reefer". Now this reefer didnt do too much to me, just made me laugh a lil louder and think a lil more, and I never did it again. But the Indians told me I couldnt play for them no more, and I was too much to have around. I was just out having a nice time with a lady friend!

A few months later Senator MacCarthy then named my name on national radio as being a communist, I didnt know what a communist was but apparently listening to music and smoking reefer one time made me one. I was taken in by men in suits and questioned about Russians, and after a few beatins, they figured out I didnt know what they was talkin about, but tol me I couldnt be playing baseball no more, and to move to a small town, so I did.

Truthfully, baseball was fun at times but im not so sure my heart was in it anyway. Today Im doin what I like, Im the only mechanic in Thompson Falls Montana, and the best damn one in the state outside of Billings!

Yeah I liked being a pitcher, but all the baseball stuff kept getting in the way. The one thing I miss the most though, was just painting those corners of the plate and watching the hitter think it was gunna be outside, and just leave his bat on his shoulder, then the ump yells "STRIKE THREE". It was fun foolin dem guys for a few years, sure was fun all those years ago. Anyway, youre engine's tuned, gunna need a new carburetor in a year or two dependin on how much drivin you do, that'll be 20 bucks, cash or check?

Not by me

but basically sums up my life from 99-01, thanks LP


driving in the morning light
the streets we passed early that night
your almost home but you couldnt care
its just a room theres nothing there
tomorrow will be just the same
a different room a different name
youve told yourself youd be alright
in the funeral of the nightlife
"a threaded needle is love
for ones as lost as us
what would god say to me?
what could god say to me?"
and yet.
and yet..
and yet...

fortifying a gelatinous blob from above

i disgust myself sometimes

"he shot a brick"

I heard this coming from a basketball court one time

and thought of you

shooting that entire brick all summer

"nothing is real"

the glimmering, prickly heat

the sounds of the street

summer's here my dear, and as he placed her fingers on my neck, it stung a little

but I knew my days were done

in 30 years ive spent under 12 months "with someone"

i used to have friends who felt the same

now all my friends now have the marriage bug

fucking sadists

I cant talk

ill probably catch it in 10 years or so, only i'll do it at least 5 times

i want to make a mockery out of a completely meaningless thing that people hold so dear

decaying moldy people

eating bad food

having bad conversations

about the weather

about other people

they will never be naked

and probably fuck with clothes on

The funniest joke someone ever said to me was that "I know you".

Peach Chesterfield rides again...

Chapter one is here:

http://peachchesterfield.blogspot.com

Take

take me to the corner where you lost your faith take me to the place that took your face take me to the house that starved you take me to your mind in time take me to your life please take me to you take me take

A man once approached me in a bar and whispered in my ear "I want your cock". 

I replied "Dont you already have one? Why would you want another?". 

I guess I'll never understand gay people.

78-07 (1 year later, 2 long sentences)

I woke up 

in the middle of the night


I called out 


I called your name


Patiently, Patiently 

Patiently, Patiently

I called out.....


Why 

do 

I 

dream 

so often 

of his body When 

his body will decay


His flesh will be fluorescent grey



Patiently, Patiently 


Patiently, Patiently




You were my god 

You were my god - in high school 



People never really know

   He will never even know 



Patiently, Patiently 

The above song played on repeat in my mind as I staggered drunk down Valencia St and I kept yelling for a ghost to show his face, I needed to see him again so I pleaded, bartered, theatened and even begged him to show his face, even though in daydreams I always see him around town, but I knew all along it wouldnt happen but I must have been quite a sight to behold whole in all crude elegance and boar-ish charm.

As I arrived at the park for his memorial I couldnt get that song out of my head as we all looked at SF under the cold night air (his city), a decent sized group of good ol' boys and pretty girls gathered, and in each and every one of our eyes we saw his spirit, I mean, sure it was a somber event, yet everyone had a look of "down for whatever" on them, some did.

Vote Something on Something

Hey what'​s up every​one!​ With the upcom​ing polli​ng day appro​achin​g soon,​ there​'​s many amend​ments​ and adden​dums and policies and whatn​ot that peopl​e are tryin​g to put throu​gh to do somet​hing,​ and you shoul​d reall​y vote somet​hing on it! Votin​g something is impor​tant becau​se somet​hing reall​y needs​ to somet​hing and your somet​hing could​ make a reall​y big diffe​rence​ in somet​hing somet​hing.​

Just a frien​dly remin​der,​ on Tuesd​ay Novem​eber,​ vote somet​hing on somet​hing.​ Somet​hing.​ Some.​ Thing​.​ Soooo​oommm​mmmmm​mmmmm​mmmmm​mmmmm​mmeee​eeeee​eeeee​eeeee​eeeee​eeeee​eeeee​eeeee​eeeet​ttttt​ttthh​hhhhh​hhiii​iiiii​iiiii​iiiin​nnnnn​nnnnn​nnnnn​ngggg​ggggg​ggggg​ggg^%$%*&(&)(PYOUTIYFJFGHDZSZBCNXY&E %Y$W%AEN& W (EOP(R*MYI UYAY%%^%&

No, God Bless You, Mr. Wallace. And you rest in peace, okay?

God Bless You, Mr. Franzen.

Kurt Vonnegut [Letters, July], writing in response to Jonathan Franzen's April Folio on American novelists, "Perchance to Dream", claims that "Novelists are people who have discovered that they can dampen their neuroses by writing make-believe. We will keep on doing that no matter what, while offering loftier explanations." This makes Vonnegut look humble and lovable, but as a response to the stuff Franzen was talking about it is total horseshit.

If Vonnegut's sound bite were the whole truth, nobody at all would read novels---who would want to devote hours of brain work to something somebody had written just to dampen his own neuroses?

Good art is a kind of magic. It does magicical things for both artist and audience. We can have long polysyllabic arguments about how to describe the way this magic works, but the plain fact is that good art is magical and precious and cool. Its hard to try and make good art, and it seems to me wholly reasonable that good artists should be concerned with their works cultural reception.

I thought it was brave of Franzen to offer not only "lofty explanations", but honest and intimate descriptions of how it feels to try and make good, serious art in a culture that doesnt appear to value it that much. And I was disappointed that the Harper's Letters editor chose to only run sneery, disparaging letters about the essay. Ive spoken with way too readers and writers who admired Franzen's piece to believe disparaging letters were all Harper's got.

I suppose one reason it was brave of Franzen to publish his essay is that it made it easy for other writers to look humble and adorable at his expense.

David Foster Wallace
Bloomington, Ill.

R.I.P.

New monologue "AC/DC never saluted me"

For years​,​ I gave apt prepa​ratio​n,​ put in many hours​ of study​ and gave up on an adequ​ate socia​l life,​ all the in chase​ of what it truly​ meant​ "to rock"​.​ Once I had gone as far as I could​ with my study​ I knew I was ready​. From that moment on, no matte​r where​ I went,​ in any situation,​ as soon as I walke​d into a room,​ any room,​ peopl​e saw me and in immed​iate exube​rant glee said thing​s like:​ "​ooooo​h shit!​"​ and "​he'​s going​ to do it, HE'S GOING​ TO!​!​!​!​"​.​....

....they meant​ of cours​e,​ to rock.​

I had the juice​ of Rose Tatto​o flowi​ng throu​gh my veins​.​ Iron Maide​n and Motor​head and the first​ coupl​e Metal​lica LPs were what made my heart​ pump.​ I was, at all times​,​ most certa​inly,​ about​ to rock.​

Not much rocki​ng ever reall​y occur​red thoug​h,​ I mostl​y just gave peopl​e the impre​ssion​ that I was about​ to blow their​ minds​,​ then I'd sit at the bar for an hour and half,​ drink​ a coupl​e beers​ and then leave​.​ See, it was the appre​hensi​on I gave peopl​e that was my cache​.​ Sure,​ the ladie​s notic​ed,​ somet​imes all you need is the look of someo​ne'​s who'​s about​ to rock,​ the rocki​ng can alway​s come later​,​ or even never, but it wont matte​r becau​se every​body knows​.​.​.​

Or so I thoug​ht.​

For years​ I was constantly about​ to rock:​ my hair was ferociously sexy,​ my cloth​ing screa​med "I ROCK"​ and my vener​able sneer​ showe​d the world​ that they bette​r not fuck with me, or else you-​know-​what was gunna​ happe​n.​.​.​.​

All durin​g this time perio​d in the back of my mind I alway​s kept the same thoug​ht:​ "One day, they will salut​e me". I went to all their​ conce​rts,​ even found​ where​ they lived​,​ and lay in wait.​ I gave them every​ oppor​tunit​y to salut​e me, but nary a nod, a wink or pumpe​d fist was ever point​ed my way.....oh WHY AC/​DC WHY?​?​?​?​

I dedic​ated my life to being​ able to rock,​ or at least​ look like I was about​ to, all in your honor​.​ I was such a fan, I wante​d your ackno​wledg​ment,​ your love,​ or at the very least​ a "​(​about​ to) rock on, broth​er"​.​ You so boldl​y procl​aimed​ in one of your scrol​ls that you saluted "those​ who were about​ to rock"​, well what more did you want me to do? At all times​ I looke​d like I was about​ to furio​usly bang my head,​ or pull out a Gibso​n and let my finge​rs dance​ all over that bad boy. I pumpe​d my fist,​ I bange​d the sluts​,​ I did the drugs​,​ I did it all, every​thing​ that could​ be consi​dered​ "​rocki​ng"​.​ Yet years​ went by, and I was not salut​ed.​ Why did you tease​ me so Messe​rs Young​,​ Rudd,​ Willi​ams and Johns​on?​ Was it all a big in-​joke to you? Or perha​ps a consp​iracy​ to get all to "about​ to rock"​?​ Or was the song just about​ having a boner?​ All I know is that I tried​ my damne​dest to try and get your atten​tion enoug​h to be "​salut​ed"​ by you, yet no dice.​

That was 6 years​ ago....

These​ days I live my worka​day life as an accou​ntant​,​ worki​ng at an estab​lishe​d compa​ny for a great​ boss who const​antly​ proclaims to me "You rock!​"​ after doing a good job.​ I nod at him and guess what? HE NODS BACK!​ THATS​ ALL I WANTE​D AC/​DC,​ WHY COULD​N'​T YOU GIVE ME THIS?​ I COULD​ STILL​ BE ROCKI​NG.​.​.​.​

Alas,​ I needn​'​t pay you any mind anymo​re,​ that was the past.​ But I procl​aim this to you just as a remin​der to you, "​acka-​dacka"​, that it is on your consc​ience​,​ it is you who need to follo​w throu​gh on your promi​ses.....and when you don'​t? Then it will be your soul that's on a Highway To Hell....

Real time poetry: No start, no end.

Ive been trying out writing stuff as it happens in front of me. It might be images, it might be something that triggers a thought or memory in my mind. It could be anything. But I write it as its happening, kind of cool:



And then there was this guy who looked like LL Cool J dressed as a storm trooper and as I came up from the escalator and the sunlight hit my face the chords of the song I was listening to resonated deeply within the moment.

Then I stood at the bus stop looking at a pale-legged girl, the wind blowing her clean bouncy dirty blonde hair all over.

Vox Celeste on repeat.

When I wasn't thinking about the work at hand I was wondering what she tasted like.

But she's one thing, and the other one is the other. The one will have a start and an end. The other one is perfect in every way: physically stunning, awkwardly charming, talented, interesting, and wont return my calls. No start, no end.

monologue snippet

and then she asked me:

"What makes a man want to hurt?"

So I told her
Do you know what its like to have everyone's best interests, buried deep close to your heart?
And then have it all blow up in your face?
And the end result being the opposite to your own intentions?

No, no its not "hurting" its not even on a level of good and bad, its just a complete lack of compassion towards anything, towards everything, because if you cant do good for others, even when you try, why even entertain the feeling?

And then I walked
and I watched
and I wondered

Walking someone else's earth

Nothingness; a glimmer in the dark breaks the void
The sex, the light, the general overwhelming feel of abandonment
I listen to the swirling sounds
Fall to the ground
And realize
...

Leave a message?

My foot in your footprint
Listening to your voicemail message
Just to listen to it.
But I'm never going to leave a message
Because now I know you're seeing things
Through technicolor eyes (finally).
My job is done.

Not Yet

Im still lookin for....... (the way down)
Im still lookin for....... (the way down)
Im still lookin for....... (the way down)
Im still lookin for....... (the way down)
Im still lookin for....... (the way down)
Im still lookin for....... (the way down)

An apostle once told me....

To "see the beauty in everything"
Sometimes its very hard.
But other times, like today
It can be downright satisfying.


Like today, over the course of a 20 minute period I saw and was mesmerized by:

The crackhead with the caricatured features
The Mexican couple admiring the 62nd different painting of Jesus on my Street
The red haired lady on the train having an epiphany to her bearded friend about "Young people! Young people in the city!"
The young man carrying a giant plate of colorful food down the street
3 giant, thuggish looking men stopping in unison at the behest of a 5 year old girl 20 feet away who motioned and demanded them them to "stop!". They stopped and then started laughing.

I was smiling for the rest of the day.

Afraid.

This one's for
The people who still hold onto the rail
Even though the train has stopped moving
Because they are afraid the train might move suddenly
And they will fall

For those who
Stop walking up the escalator
Near the top
Because they are afraid the steps might merge together
And they will fall

For those who
Would rather kick the back of her shoes
Than look her in the eye and tell her everything
(or even nothing)
Because they are afraid of what she might say back

For those who
Carry hand sanitizer on them at all times
Because "germs are bad"
And they are afraid of getting sick.
Because they are uncomfortable in their environment

And its for those who
Would rather live a life without taking a risk
And die without impacting anyones life.
Because they are afraid
They are afraid.

They are afraid of life.

Bad band at art show.

I go to the gallery and it seems a little "classier" than what I expected, fine nibblies and snacks, higher shelf liquor and a generally older crowd. There's a disgusting quiet-loud pop punk band that's so out of place and mediocre it nearly gives the artwork a depressing vibe. This bands' influence list reeks of the soulless fat wreck chords back catalogue and 90s indie hard rock like Quicksand minus any real hooks that band may have had. If only they did more drugs other than weed and booze they might actually think the riffs they were playing were indeed as bad as they were then they could go buy Loveless and start over and better.

Terrify Me
Crucify Me
Hate Me
Be Me.

Why Jay Z is incredible.

He plays Glastonbury, the worlds largest outdoor MUSIC festival (not "rock" music, just plain MUSIC) and Noel Gallagher from Oasis goes on several scathing, stupid rants about how he thinks rap music isnt actually music and rappers shouldnt be playng there. Its very odd because techno has been a staple of the fest for at least 2 decades and most of that music doesnt even have a human being singing on it.

Anyway here's what Hova did in response to Noel's stupid and largely irrelevant ranting:

Deerhunter - Microcastle : a song by song review.

What gave Deerhunters previous LP, Cryptograms, such polarizing reviews amongst listeners was simply how challenging it was. People who were up to the task basked in its perfection, its subtleties, its extremities and the ebb and flow from its chaotic first half to the more listener-friendly second half. People who weren't ready enough (or high enough) wrote it off as "boring white noise with 1 or 2 decent songs", usually meaning one of the 2nd half ones. They quickly became blog-darlings after an excellent pitchfork review, those who "got" it couldn't stop talking about it, those who didn't tended to focus on singer Bradford Cox's appearance and controversy stirred by the bands' own blog.

With the recently leaked "Microcastle" Deerhunter have made a record that will impress both parties. Its still challenging and has plenty for the advanced-level listener to revel in, but it is cleaner, more stripped down (in a way) and less confrontational for the casual listener. You wont find a "White Ink" or "Octet" here but instead you will find songs that are more "song-y" while still maintaining the now classic Deerhunter vibe. I haven't seen a song-by-song rundown on the record online yet so here one is.....

Intro: After getting the record, I lay down on my bed and was just floored by the first note, instant ecstasy. Bradford had mentioned there wasn't going to be a lot of distortion pedals used and honestly when he said that, it bummed me out. Within 5 seconds it becomes startingly apparent to not question his genius. Don't get me wrong, Bradford is still a fan of using his voice as an instrument, with his lyric-less falsetto soaring throughout this piece, but this is the perfect table-setter. In context to the rest of the record you start to think Deerhunter is this generation's My Bloody Valentine, only American and even more weird, always a good thing.

Agoraphobia: This is one for the fans who love the challenges this band throws at them, you didn't think Bradford was going to sing on the leadoff track did you? Of course not, this is Deerhunter we are talking about. The honors here go to guitarist Lockett Pundt aka Lotus Plaza, who supposedly has a solo record of his own coming out on Kranky this year sometime, with Bradford contributing a singular backing vocal. Lockett is an absolutely vital member of the band, having penned the single on Cryptograms "Strange Lights" (aka the best ever song about brotherhood not written by shaved headed straight edge youth). "Come for me, cover me, comfort me, come for me" is the crux lyric repeated throughout this chilled out leadoff track. Deerhunter 2.0 (or maybe even 3.0 if you listen to the 1st LP still) is in full effect here, Lockett's crooning is actually reminiscent of Julian Casablancas and there is a very Strokes-y vibe going on in a few tracks on this record. The complexities in this song are galaxies away from anything the Strokes could ever touch, unless they decided to start listening to more My Bloody Valentine. MBV+The Strokes is the short answer to describe this song for people that way inclined.

Never Stops: While Lockett's vocals are stoney and somewhat soothing, Bradfords eclectic ones are downright superb, listen to "Without Headlights" to get a full taste of how spectacularly rich he can get vocally. They seem to be in a "when in doubt, go to MBV" mode here, the multiple layered guitar tracks, the last 1:20 of this song is classic Deerhunter too, its just noisy enough and just melodious enough to make it thoroughly likable.

Little Kids: This is the closest song on the record to the Cryptograms days and was my instant personal fave on it. It jumps back to some hippy-ish psyche trip into a more pounding shoegazey second half. They manage to somehow duck away from being pulsating or "droney" by adding melody, which was a huge point for the detractors of Cryptograms. "To get older still" over and over in a sea of wonderful distorted guitar and a steady beat, this ones for the Cryptograms-heads, definitely. I got chills.

Microcastle: Readers of the bands' blog will note that Brad kept saying how he was being obsessed with 50's doo-wop and the Everly Brothers and here's our first taste of it. First half of the song is Brad all on his lonesome singing over a nice warm sounding guitar what are some undoubtedly depressing lyrics. Just as the lullaby is about to put you under Deerhunter remember to be a band again and slap you in the face with a really quirky, driving 2nd half, mixing in some 80's NYC art rock tones but still sticking with the 50's vibe overall. Like what if Brad went into a time machine and recorded the Everly Bros with more technology. Its beautiful.

Calvary Scars-Green Jacket-Activa: Here's where people who want to think the new record and Brad being in Converse ads are going to make them superstars and they will be on MTV and all over the radio, I cant vouch for those things NOT becoming true (In fact I pray that they do), but 1 thing about this band will always be true: they will always be weird. This was a 3 song set Brad leaked a demo of ages ago and since then they took to playing a gorgeous extended, rocking version of Calvary Scars as part of their live show. Strangely, these 3 songs are pretty much in the same form as the demoed versions done over a year ago, even with the 7 minute Calvary Scars becoming a pinnacle of the set. Pretty much every early review is giving this record an A+ with the only complaint being the lack of the fleshed out version of this song, however Brad recently blogged "don't be scared guys - we still might record that one for a single".

Musically, I cant even describe what these songs are other than "unsettling". They are a nice end to the first half of the record and Im all for mixing things up and having "parts" to LPs. Green Jacket's piano is simply chilling and miserable and wonderful all at once. I hated all previous versions of "Activa" (such as the Daytrotter version) but this one is great with the addition of Lockett on backups, the previous versions couldn't help but get chaotic, this one keeps a lid on it and it makes it very creepy and off-putting, its nice to watch them finally nail what they were trying to do. I love that this band does things like this, despite how raped its become over the years, music is still an form of art (it gets confused with business all too often these days), but its become a form that too often tries to cater to the listener, when really a lot of the time it needs be the other way around.

Nothing Ever Happened: Here is an obvious single, if it wasn't 6 mins long. Josh Fauver's perfectly toned bass leads it off, Josh's playing is a secret joy in listening to this band too, especially live. There's all sorts of half notes and crazy complicated basslines (Playing Octet every night for a couple years will never not make you a monster bassman) that really make up a lot of the subtleties of this band as mentioned earlier. When you find yourself debating what the best part of the song is, be it the chorus, the uplifting "I neverrrrr sawww it cominggg" line or the 3:30 minute outro of the song that just builds and layers until you are just rolling around yelling "MUSIC SHOULDN'T BE THIS GOOD!" (note: I -may- have done this ;), you know that this band really is something special.

Saved By Old Times: Here's another DH special - weird clunky acoustic riff intro? Crazy homeless spaceman interlude by Cole Alexander of the Black Lips? Repeating the chorus over a lush outro? Yeah what, you're trying to tell me your fave band doesn't do this? I just feel sorry for you.

These Hands: Another Lockett-sung one. If you haven't heard his work as Lotus Plaza, you'd be a fool not to check out the songs he uploaded to their blog called "Whiteout", "These Years" and "Dot Gain". Here he continues on his own brand of post-shoegaze futurism, this song sounding like a distant, less-accessible cousin of "Strange Lights".

Twilight At Carbon Lake: Its very important for a great LP to have a spectacular closing track that either uplifts you, depresses you, or just leaves you in a beautiful mess, and the latter is what they do here. This song is similar to the title track, but it's like its evil twin: the first half is an obvious ode to the Everly Bros and 50s doo-wop, you can even picture the band in powder blue tuxedos playing this at a school dance in 1955 to unbeknown teenagers (video idea?!?!). However, someone in the band thought it would be genius to throw a monkey-wrench into the proceedings and have an outro that puts any Nirvana rock-out to shame. Thats right: this is an Everly Brothers cake with a Nirvana topping and its just thoroughly incredible and a joy to listen to and the most perfect way to end the record. There's even some reverb and delay on the vocals!

In closing, Microcastle delivers more than any follow up, its like Cryptograms was a Home Run but it hit the foul pole or something and it was contested. Microcastle is a no doubter 500 foot upper deck blast to dead center field. Its a bummer that it leaked very early (there was no release date ever mentioned, just "sometime around Halloween"), it leaked so early that the reason why there's no official artwork yet is because it hasn't been made yet. The lyrics quoted above are pure speculation as well. I have no beef listening to this though as I am a fan who will buy it on vinyl, go to the shows and buy concert tees are well. I hope those who liked this leak will do the same.

Deerhunter are on tour in Europe until June 25, then play sporadic dates in the US until August 5, when they open for Nine Inch Nails on their full US stadium tour that includes Oracle Arena, home of the Golden State Warriors basketball team.

Bad Pizza

I just read the following on a messageboard: "I couldn't imagine ever saying Negative Approach sucked. They're kind of like pizza; even if they're bad, they'd still be pretty good."

I disagree vehemently with this statement: Bad pizza is the worst shit on earth. Bad pizza is maybe the only thing that makes me both miserable and furious, its difficult to be both depressed and want to hurt people.

Ive wanted to commit homicide after eating the following:

-freezing cold slices (room temp ones are fine)

-even worse, barely warm ones that have been left out for 12 hours and then I buy it, I feel cheated. "The last slice of the pie" is ALWAYS the worst.

-that one slice standhard bought me that made me puke for 3 hours in front of owen and sami @ 8 Carmel

-that slice I ate after shrooming all day (note: should have been the most satisfying slice in my life. wasnt)

So, as you can see: pizza can be miserable. Its standards are extremely high though because when its at its best its unbelievable and otherworldly. A better example in the above would be sex. Bad sex is nowhere near in the same universe as bad pizza. Its like comparing tripping over the sidewalk to dying.

Ahhhh YOUTH!

First appearing in Murdoch University Literary Journal 2000

MY FIFTH GEAR DESTINY

You know those car trips
Where you just dont give a fuck?
and its like the most
magical experience in your life?

2am traffic in nowheresville
sees you run that red light
THOSE red lights
it doesnt matter....

You feel self-righteous as you scream along to
the talentless wonders on the radio
and you shake your fist to every sincere word they say
as if they were describing your life....

well its YOUR stereo
and YOUR car and that makes everything seem okay
all your cares (loves) were kicked out at the last stop sign
and you drive faster than ever to get away

and when you get home you realize
you have been simply overcome by a certain feeling
and its the greatest feeling you have ever felt
or will ever feel.

C.H.L. (2004)

Free the ramshackled beast of a life unlived
A perched eyebrow
A sly grin
"Do you even know the trouble you're in?"

Forget the musk of a shadowy dawn gone unrendered
Fuck like death is waiting at the foot of your bed
Live like repercussions do not exist, do whatever you must to feel real
Just as long as you're sprinting in the opposite direction of mediocrity at all costs.

Shitty night volume 726.

I sit and wonder why
I cant have the fun that my friends have
Im never satisfied.

Midnight alcoholism
"I really hate your 70's style"
"No wait actually I love it"

15, maybe 18 years have passed
Since those 3 words were uttered to me with real meaning
Or at least in the way I say it and mean it
Has anyone had a longer losing streak than this?

I suppose my true calling is to be Jesus
Oh well
"On with the show"

Masking Tape (1995).

Exhaustion, was my final ever thought with you
The tearful scorn
The motel glow
The scented dawn

Masking the wounds
With healing tongues
Once again
We were one.

For Erin O. (1987)

XO

It was a simple union, but with a desperate tone
The lofty scorn: “too young, too young”
We’d meet by the -other- playground after school
The one that no one else knew
Only us, a boy and his young lady
Love: we called it XO, baby!

The truest beauty, lies in simplicity
The Aged could not comprehend
In our minds
It would always be:
XO to you and XO to me.

The pale green mist of an early march morn
We went to the other and defied the scorn
Steady hands, angel wings
Eskimo kisses on the swings

Angry fathers
Angry mothers
Angry sisters and brothers

Split down the middle, split apart
XO right down to the heart

You still haunt me.

The fight between baseball journalists and actually making sense

Anyone who knows me knows Im pretty forward-thinking when it comes to baseball stuff. This is because ever since I became obsessed with the game 20+ years ago there were a number of things that really bugged me and made zero sense, most of them have to do with statistics and how journalists write about the sport.

See, there is a war going on right now: one between common sense and "a good story" and it has entirely to do with stats.

A perfect example is the latest Jon Heyman article which borders on ridiculous. One particularly offensive line is:

"To the stat guys, walking is more thrilling and much more valuable than actually winning the pennant."

Really Jon, really? I find walks "thrilling" and I value them more than winning a pennant? (I also think Diet Pepsi is better than Johnny Mathis, whatchuknow about that, Heyman?) I dont enjoy watching a walk at all, but when my team is batting and a player gets one I do not get depressed, you know why Jon? Its because an OUT, to which my team only has 3 per inning, has NOT BEEN MADE. Im not super excited over it, but it does kind of rule that my team gets to keep batting. You know what makes me curse and yell and get mad? When a player makes a stupid weak ground out, a mild pop fly, or even worse: an inning-ending double play. Those things suck, NOT doing those things rule. If you are a good player you wont make too many outs. Jimmy Rollins made the most outs ever in the last 5 years last year and won an MVP. He didnt get on base too much but he had lots of "cool" stats like triples. His team rocketed into the playoffs and he played shortstop, which is a "cool" position to write about if you are a sports journalist. He had a really weird looking statistical year, because he was going 0-5 a lot and throwing in hitting 5 Home Runs a month and a few doubles. Oh yeah, he's fast too, journalists love talking about team speed, however Earl Weaver does not.

Bottom line though: Anytime a player doesnt make an out, that makes me happy. When he makes an out, that makes me sad. Easy concept to grasp, no? I get the feeling most people think this, yet braindead journalists seem to want to go to war over a simple, common-sense thing like this. Seriously, get a life Jon Heyman, how about you learn something and try and make some common sense for once in your life?

The Chicago Cubs sign Japanese player, immediately insult America, everyone.

The Chicago Cubs signed star Japanese player Kosuke Fukudome this offseason, and their first press campaign features him in action amongst the Japanese war flag, the Rising Sun Flag. This flag tomented hundreds if not thousands of those Americans, Koreans, Chinese and Australians who all fought in various wars against the Japanese under this flag.

To add insult to the Japanese, they crudely put the Cubs logo in where the Sun should be, insulting this proud nation.

Those at home might say "You are making something out of very little here" but if you chose to ignore the international disrespect and probable racism anyway, hows about the sophomoric design of the advertisement? How about what a terrible ad it is from a pure design standpoint? If Fire Joe Morgan is site dedicated to calling out poor sports journalism, why isnt there a site dedicated to poorly thought and executed design ideas?

An old story I nearly had forgotten about....

Ike Turners' toxicology report was released today, it was officially listed as a cocaine overdose, which at age 76, has to be one of the best ways to bounce from life before you become too old and decrepit.

Anyway this little nug of info reminded me of my own grandfather, Patrick Thomas Desmond Lynch, and one of the final and best stories I had ever heard from him, I nearly had forgotten about this.....


My grandpa was a doctor, he never really retired but he would have a handful of regulars he would see at his practice/house (he had his office inside his house, it was kinda cool he had a waiting room/reception area and then his office. You walked through another door and then you are in his huge house in Carlisle, WA.).

Anyway when he was 73 he found out he had cancer, he absolutely hated dealing with other doctors and hospitals and stuff because he was a hard-headed Irishman (this also lead him to move his family from Southern California to AU, he picked out where they were going move by using the "dart on a map" method.) but he could write as many prescriptions as possible and he held his own while he was sick, no one had any idea he was ill. When he died 2 years later there was a toxicology report done and it was found that he had been using heroin, cocaine, mescaline and opium for roughly the same amount of time as he had cancer for, he indeed had found out he had cancer and immediately went on a drug binge!

What a great dude....

WGA agrees to terms with Spyglass Entertainment.

In what is becoming a slightly annoying, backward way to do things, yet another production company has agreed to an interim deal with the WGA independently. Spyglass Entertainment, who has bought us such films as: The Sixth Sense, Shanghai Noon, Bruce Almighty, Seabiscuit, Memoirs of a Geisha, and the upcoming releases of nine films, including 27 Dresses, starring Katherine Heigl, Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins, starring Martin Lawrence, The Happening, written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Wanted, starring Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy, and Morgan Freeman, The Love Guru, starring Mike Myers, and Four Christmases, starring Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn (and yours truly as the Nightclub Valet).

“Spyglass Entertainment can now work with the most talented writers in the business - members of the Writers Guilds,” said Patric M. Verrone, president of the Writers Guild of America West, and Michael Winship, president of the writers Guild of America, East, in a joint statement. “We are gratified that the company wants to move forward with us and we can continue to put people back to work.”

Spyglass Chief Executive Officers Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum commented, “We are thrilled to have signed this interim agreement with the WGA, and we look forward to continuing our long association with the best writers in the entertainment industry.”

While these independent deals ensure that plenty of films will continue to be shot up until the SAG strike in June, that remains a much more ominous conflict.

My most hated teams in the NBA

Finally, after waiting a good 15 years to enjoy basketball again, I have hit the 07-08 season at full blast, watching most of my beloved Warriors games, but really catching whatever else is on ESPN/TNT etc. For the first time in many years I also have really good cable TV, I used to watch the dozen or so games they show on ABC every year but that wasnt enough for me to fully appreciate the game. Now, its a new year and I am fully ensconsed in the game "everybody loves".

Obviously, my Warriors come before all, but I know they are a slightly flawed and inconsistent team. A lot of their enemies are listed below but theres also some random teams Ive always been disgusted with for whatever reason. I will detail the said teams now:

1. SAN ANTONIO SPURS. If the Warriors represent everything thats good in the game, the Spurs are the anti-Warriors. The Warriors run and gun, the Spurs "contain", whine and complain. The Dub have Baron Davis bringing legit 10 Jessica Alba to games, the Spurs have (/deep long sigh) Tony Parker bringing his severely annoying wife who is classic "fake-hot" and just more annoying and untalented and really makes me lament the death of the true classy female in Hollywood....my utter hatred of this team really begins with "Tony P", he's French, which is bad enough, but he whines and complains more than Mike Scoscia on his rags. I cant really hate on Tim Duncan because he is so awesome, but he is just awesome without being flashy, which sadly is the most boring kind of awesome. Other reasons to dislike this team include another foreign whiner (Manu Ginobli), a pair of certified douches in Robert Horry and Michael Finley and of course, the man who tried to kill enjoyable basketball, coach Avery Johnson. The fact that this team has titles and the NBA hasnt done anything to stop it (unless they are somehow behind the Warriors ridiculous(ly awesome) gameplan, who knows. All I do know is that I would not wish watching a Spurs game on my worst enemy.

2. PHOENIX SUNS. The Warriors with overhyped players and a worse coach. I hate every single player on this team with a passion. Steve Nash's unprescidented "sexxxy mann" vibe, I REALLY hate Brian Skinner's terrible facial hair that looks like he took a dump, put it on his chin, and then dipped it in caramel, so disgusting. I hate Grant Hill's recent rape-victim personality, Leandro Barbossa having the least masculine name since Lindsey Featherbottom (and Raja Bell is in 2nd place-RAAAAJAAAA lol). They also have another aesthetically displeasing bench scrub named Sean Marks who looks like some guy they yanked out of section 212 row 17 seat 9, seriously look at this dude.
What.

The.

Hell.

This team never wins anything and the level of boring Phoenix has is basically like being in San Jose without a San Francisco being a drivable distance away. Fruit salad colorway unis too, no thanks.

3. DALLAS MAVERICKS. As my buddy John put it the other night "Watching Dirk Nowitski morph into a small, scared child during the playoffs really showed how worthless this franchise is". Investing in the internet somehow turned Mark Cuban into a pro sports expert so now his dumb hick looking ass is all over the place. Spike Lee talking trash from the crowd = ill. Some white douche doing it = worst. This team will never win anything and they are just a total waste of everyones time. Is there a worse dude than Jerry Stackhouse? This team is like the Spurs but they enjoy scoring so your squad might actually have an entertaining game against them. The Warriors owning them in the playoffs was icing on the cake. Much like how when the Seattle Mariners won 116 games that one time and got immediately bounced in the playoffs, they along with the Mavs, should have been booted from the league for not having the common decency to at least win the title after dominating all year long.

4. UTAH JAZZ. Mormons in a place that banned jazz music for many years+a relocated basketball team from a place where jazz music is king+ridiculously keeping the old name = a completely worthless, disgusting paradox. Growing up, I always thought: can John Stockton be any whiter? He is almost transparent, seriously. I hated everything about the Stockton/Malone era, Gonzaga sucks, the Mailman was a dirty player who was insanely over-rated in his prime (Would you honestly take Malone over Time Duncan? Eff no) and I seriously have hated this team the longest out of all NBA teams. Can Karl Malone mail the sense of failiure he has from not winning a title (seriously, I cant think of any long term player less deserving of a ring, him getting denied is what made me hate them a little less.)? His last ditch effort to win by joining the Lakers was perfect douche move. Stockton was just a nerd not a douche but seriously, fuck everything about this franchise. They currently can beat the Warriors at will and that really angers me, I think they are basically a low budge version of the Spurs but I deliberately try to not know anything about their current roster because I hate them so much.

5. INDIANA PACERS. Ive hated this team for many years, I never liked alien Reggie Miller and his cast of awkward looking white guys, but today's squad really takes the cake. I have never in my life seen such a caucasian team of athletes in my life. Make no bones about it, this is the Indiana White Guys, even their black guys are named "Danny" and "Stephen", cmon not even Jermaine O'Neal can save this team. They traded Al Harrington and Steven Jackson for Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy, why on EARTH would anyone do that? The only way that trade can be described is that: they wanted to go "more white". They also have this annoying little guard named Travis who really bums me out to watch. They are simply uninspiring in every possible aspect of the game and life.

6. NEW YORK KNICKS. The shittiest team in the entire world of pro sports that gets the most media. THEY HAVE TWO TITLES. Can being a good team over a 4 year period in the early 70s force the rest of us to endure the overbearing media saturation until the end of time? The worst part is that I dont even think actual Knicks fans care that much about their terrible team. Shut up about these losers already, no one cares.

CHARLOTTE BOBCATS, NEW ORLEANS HORNETS, MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES. - Just because I just hate new/recently moved franchises.

These next few teams dont really bother me with their play, rather, their ridiculous team names which run the gamut from ludicrous to retarded:

The Toronto Raptors were a new franchise and they decided to be a new franchise with a prehistoric team name. Really, you are RAPTORS huh? So you belong in museums and every once in a while your bones get dug up? How frightening.

The Washington BULLETS caught too much flack for not being PC (yet the INDIANS, REDSKINS and BRAVES still exist) so instead of playing up how fast they were (like a bullet train or actual bullet) so they changed it to a gay wizard. They used to be the Washington "fast as" Bullets now they are the Harry Potter Homo Wizards, yeah great name change. Seriously why not just run with the Generals or some other wartime or politically-minded name? Nah lets go the nerd-route instead because nothing is more intimidating that a fat guy in a shiny sparkly crappy robe and REALLY aggravating hat that douchebag hippies wear when they think they are somehow "blowing your mind maaaaan". I hate wizards so much.

There are no Kings in Sacramento, in fact there's nothing even remotely King-ish about that veritable hellhole of an excuse of a "city". The Sacramento Shitty Weather or the Sacramento There's Nothing To Do Here's are both more apt names.

If there ever was a frachise that needed to be immediately destroyed, its the New Jersey Nets. Are there any baseball teams called the Worcester Baseball Bats or the Sioux City Rosin Bags? Yeah didnt think so. The lack of intelligence and imagination that went into this team's name really offends me on several levels. You would think Hova would at least change their name to the NJ Roc Boyz or something, actually Id probably buy a jersey if he did that.

Its like Weekend At Bernie's...

Only with total idiots.

Another brick in the wall falls in favor of the WGA

Today, one of the longest running production companies/distributors, United Artists (currently co-owned by Paula Wagner and Tom Cruise) replicated David Letterman's Worldwide Pants interim agreement and set many writers back to work. This is merely a stopgap measure, SAG goes on strike in June. Expect several projects to be quickly greenlighted and made before the SAG strike.

Sadly for those looking for legitimate entertainment, the new Wagner-Cruise era of United Artists is currently 0 for 1, having provided the snoozefest Lions For Lambs. They currently have in-production the apparent castless ro-com Something Borrowed, another potentially interesting film foiled by a Cruise casting Valkyrie, and a film interpretation of Keroac's On The Road.

Letterman: The AMPTP are cowards, cutthroats and weasels"

It didn't take long for Letterman to sink his teeth into the producers, he makes his point very clearly though, and you would have to be really ignorant (or a billionaire) to not agree with him:

WGA update: Letterman wins; Colbert, Leno, Conan lose

As anyone who turned into late night TV last week can attest to, most of the late night "big 7" talk show hosts went back to work or announced they would be returning to work. In a last minute interim agreement with the Writers Guild of America, David Letterman and Craig Ferguson's late night shows (both on the CBS network) will allow the full writing staffs for their planned early January return to work, even as the Hollywood writers strike continues to halt many productions nationwide.

Over the next 2 weeks, Jimmy Kimmels' ABC late night show, John Stewart and Steven Colberts' Comedy Central shows and Jay Leno and Conan O'Briens' late night shows also plan to air new episodes, however they will be looking vastly different to their regular format as to not break the WGA's strict strike-guidelines. These guidelines state that members of the WGA cannot write or perform any material that would normally be written for them. For example, Conan O'Brien can not perform his traditional monologue, because his staff of writers normally craft many of his jokes. Steven Colbert, an actor playing an arrogant Bill O'Rielly-type who is often confused for having his own opinions and being in real life like he is on TV (like his counterpart John Stewart) has his entire show scripted for him, right down to the interviews. He will appear to have the toughest time during this period: by a strict interpretation of the guild's rules, a member would be prohibited from performing as a character if union writers normally write material for the character, so what will Colbert do? Appear in his real life signature beard and sloppy clothes? We wait with baited breath as to see if this will either make for interesting TV or a trainwreck. The others have rights to their own selves as they play naturally, but Colbert's take on this will be the most interesting.

So what can Conan, Jay, John, Steven and Jimmy actually do? More crowd-participation, lots more ad-libbing, extended musical appearances and longer interviews with those willing to cross the picket line are what the likely final recourse will be. It should be noted that many actors in the Screen Actors Guild have shown solidarity with the WGA, as it is expected that they will be joining them in ceasing to work in June 2008. So expect a lot of the more politically-slanted or big name a-list actors to either stay on the other side of the picket line, or simply do nothing but talk about the issues the WGA and SAG have with the producers, those being: the area of compensation for work distributed via new media (the Internet) and other digital media. The guild also has called for unionization of writers working on reality shows and animation. The prospect of the picket-line crossing celebrities coming on and doing nothing but talking about the issues the union is having is as tedious as it sounds.

Letterman has been very kind to his writers, paying them out of pocket on his own dime while they are on strike, he had this to say on Friday in a statement: "I am grateful to the WGA for granting us this agreement, this is not a solution to the strike, which unfortunately continues to disrupt the lives of thousands. But I hope it will be seen as a step in the right direction."

When Letterman and Johnny Carson's shows were affected by the 1988 strike they both received reviews on the opposite sides of the spectrum, Carsons shows were said to be "flat and disappointing" while Letterman's performances were called "downright exciting" because they harkened back to the early years of live TV when there was more improvisation. Letterman also took time out every episode to address network management as "money grubbing scum", which became a long-running joke on the Late Show. In recent years Letterman has often taken time on the show to personally call the CEO of CBS, Les Moonves, out of the blue and engage him in aggressive dialogue about things Letterman did not like about the company, in a simultaneously hilarious manner. In 2006 Letterman also had on guest Howard Stern, who was being sued for $500M by Moonves and CBS for failure to disclose his deal with Sirius, Stern wore a shirt mocking Moonves and his new, younger wife during the interview and Letterman clearly showed his support at many points during the interview.

As the new year starts, the entertainment industry appears to have reached a stalemate, how those who try to work will recover will be seen. It will be an important few weeks to see how the situation pans out.

Re-upping this....

After a break Ive decided to refocus things and start talking about other things other than baseball. As someone just starting out in the show business industry, I have taken a vested interest the WGA and SAG unions, I find them very fascinating. I have also been inspired by some friends' blogs to think more about politics. I have written a few pieces over the last several months already finished I will be posting immediately.

This blog from here on out will be about everything and anything, so enjoy the ride.

Dont worry though, baseball will still be a huge part of this :)

Dave Parker best

Dave Parker best
Originally uploaded by krakdown87demo

The very best

THE WORST MANAGERS IN MLB.

Recently, a hack named Jon Heyman posted his "Top Managers in the Game" where he listed 12 managers. Oh Jon you poor misguided fellow, its 2007 now and manager quality is at an all time low. You cant just list half the league because you need to stretch your word count up when in reality there are maybe a handful of guys who dont regularly cost their team wins. Out of the 12 he listed he got some of those right (Bobby Cox, Terry Francona) in his arrogant statement "Schuerholz has his own rankings. But here are my much more official managerial rankings", but he listed many of the names who are indeed the worst managers as being the best. He is wrong, logic and sanity are correct. Sanity and logic say the worst guys running baseball teams are:


-Eric Wedge. Never has such a talented team failed over and over. Wedge also does bush shit like overplaying Grady Sizemore by 2 AB so he was ineligible to win the ROY (which he would have won easily). He has never known how to use relievers and never will. No manager is more hurtful to his own team than Wedge.

-Ozzie Guillen. A loudmouth, boorish, racist idiot who got lucky and had every single one of his pitchers have career years in 05. No you dumbass it has nothing to do Posednik and his shitty SB ratio. Said he would hit Posednik and Erstad 1 & 2 this year, thus preventing his team from scoring runs, as both those players are what you call "good at making outs". Apparently making outs is what Ozzie wants his team to do, as they regularly were leading the league in CS and GIDP thanks to ol "hit and run every play" until he was surpassed last year by a similar lucky idiot named:

-Mike Scioscia. Had a much more talented team than the A's last year and couldnt take the div. He did this by constantly calling stupid moves such as hit and run all the time, and getting his players who arent very good at stealing bases to try and steal, even running his "best" (although o-cab was actually the only guy who could steal without making an out often) guy Figgins at a sweet 25% out rate when stealing. Thats what loses games for your team. Managers who are good do not lose games for their team. The perfect manager, like the perfect umpire, should be seen and not heard. They will make the high percentage calls and never take low percentage risks.

-Grady Little. Im not even going to go into the Pedro thing here I will use a more recent example: during the Dodgers-Giants game (as referenced here http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN200704260.shtml) the Dodgers were primed to really put some runs on the board. Ortiz was looking like absolute shit and the Dodgers had just gone up 3-0 with runners on the corners with 1 out. For some bizarre and nonsensical reason reason Grady Little then called a suicide squeeze play, which was rather strange in itself, as a sac fly would have bought Andre Ethier who was standing on 3B, home. What was weirder was that he didnt let the batter Juan Pierre, one of the better bunters in the game, know that he should be attempting to bunt on a sac squeeze play. He sent Ethier running home to the catcher holding the ball while a confused Pierre just tried to hopelessly put bat on ball at the last minute, which didnt work. Pierre flew out, which would have sent Ethier home if he had not been called out. This directly cost the Dodgers the game. Grady Little has no place controlling a baseball team.

-Lou Pinella. An utterly insane person who managed the best regular season team in history and couldnt get them to be that same team for 3 more weeks. In my opinion Seattle should have folded after that year because if you cant win a WS after winning 116, youre never gunna win. Pinella also "managed" the Devil Rays and they looked not 1% better with him, which is strange because he was such an esteemed manager. Could it be that he had immensely talented players on his good teams that he just let play their natural game, resulting in wins? Yes. Pinella is now mirroring the "job" he did with the Devil Rays in Chicago. Im just glad I dont have to hear his annoying speech impediment while "calling" a game on Fox. He's simply another "lucky" guy. Sure he won with the Reds in 90 but thats because he was facing:

-Tony LaRussa. Big deal he won last year because he has the best hitter in baseball and his pitching staff played above themselves for a measly 2 months. He had control of 3 WS winning teams (88 A's, 90 A's, 04 Cards) and couldnt get it done. He risked Pujols career by playing him in LF with a serious arm injury that was OK to hit with, and told him to throw the ball underarm into the INF! He has this BS "aura" because he's vegan and intelligent outside of baseball. But he's not a very good manager. Good managers manage good teams to WS wins. Bad managers can do this too (as noted), but making an easy job hard is what discerns a bad manager from a good one.

-Mike Hargrove. If he stays in Cleveland Im almost sure they would have a WS victory by now, but the managed to find someone who was millions of times worse than this guy. Hargrove isnt a good manager, hes not really a bad one though. The Orioles and Mariners have 2 of the worst front offices in baseball and have bought this guy 2 of the hardest teams to manage. I honestly dont know how bad a manager he is, but you would think even with the players he has had, a .500 season would happen every once in a while. Has a .435 winning percentage in the last 7 seasons. Time to try someone else.

-John Gibbons. Hes here just because he should have handled the Shea Hillenbrand situation a lot better than an angry 13 year old. The Oakland A's have been the 2nd most sucessful team of this decade and many players note that its because the clubhouse is so chill. Sure it backfired in RoboMacha, but Macha not saying anything sure is better than challenging your own players to fight.

A lot of guys illicit a "well what do expect?" response as some just have bad teams to work with and if they can get 75 wins then its a job, done. But its actually the ones who have talent and use it incorrectly and thus cost their teams wins are who Im trying to point out here. Im probably missing a few more bad ones, but right now I will give them the benefit of the doubt. I find it funny that the best manager in the game isnt even working right now (Joe Girardi), but it must be said that the current managerial corps are amongst the worst of all time, generally speaking.