Thursday Morning Blues

also known as Monday Morning Ramblings 2005, Volume XXVI! (I just couldn't bring myself to title this post that way being that we're way past Monday!)

F1 is back to normal although the French GP was quite an uneventful race. Fernando Alonso took the win for Renault in their home grand prix. Off to Silverstone.

The 4th of July was fantastic. I absolutely love fireworks and I did my share of watching and setting them off over the extended weekend that's for sure!

Although the Pirates continue to slide it was nice to see Canada's native son Jason Bay not only get named as a National League reserve but as a participant in the home run derby contest. In doing so, he will be the first Bucco since Barry Bonds to participate in the event. Hopefully he'll do good and get the repeat invite next summer when the game is at PNC Park.

As for the Pirates, I was in DC last week to catch two of the three games against the Nationals. Although they were swept, the games I saw were at least close. As far as RFK goes, look it's an old venue. All the great things about the newer parks are absent however, I will say this: it is a much better park to watch a ballgame at than Three Rivers EVER was. The sightlines were fantastic. I will post some pics I took tonight so come back and look for them later.

I wore Pirates gear both games, including my unique Jim Leyland jersey which got many, many compliments, and was pretty much left along. Truth be told there was a lot of black and gold in the District for those two games. Not sure if they were transplants or people making the voyage from western PA.

MotoGP makes its return to the states this weekend and Speed not only will have their normal race coverage but qualifying coverage as well. I cannot see anyone stopping Valentino Rossi this year.

I have gotten a lot of new music lately although many of it isn't exactly new. I did pick up the new System of a Down and it is pretty good. I got the latest Chemical Brothers with the track "Galvanize" which features Q-Tip. Good track and good disc. I have been using BMG and Columbia House to build my selection of remasters of the old Van Halen and AC/DC albums. So far I have Van Halen II, Diver Down and 1984 as well as High Voltage, The Razor's Edge, Back in Black and For Those About to Rock. I also got the Johnny Cash 16 Biggest Hits Volume II. Even if you're not a country fan (which I really am not, in fact I HATE country music today, it's just glorified pop music with a twang, but I like the old stuff like Cash, Marty Robbins, Charlie Pride, etc.) every CD collection needs to have Johnny Cash's 16 Biggest Hits Volumes I and II as well as Carryin' On with Johnny Cash and June Carter. If possible, pick up the Folsom Prison recording and Live at Madison Square Garden as well but that's just for hardcore fans.

Well, enough of this, I'm back to work. Look tonight for pics from DC.