Entries from January 2008 ↓

What a difference a few weeks makes. Four weeks ago, I was slating Eli Manning for his inconsistency, his poor decision-making, etc. I had written off the Giants chances of doing much of anything in the playoffs.

Now, after a third consecutive excellent performance from Eli - not to mention the defense - the Giants are one win away from the Super Bowl. A gutsy 21-17 win in Dallas over the Cowboys earned the Giants their first trip to the NFC Title game since 2001. Eli was flawless, not turning the ball over once, while the defense stepped up, in particular in the fourth quarter. The key sequence though, the thing everyone will remember about this game, was the drive that the Giants composed with less than a minute left in the first half which led to a game-tying touchdown.

The Cowboys had just spent nearly twelve minutes of the second quarter marching 90 + yards to take a 14-7 lead, leaving the Giants only seconds before the half. Instead of playing out the clock, the offense moved like lightning down the field, Manning conducting every movement with precision unseen from him before. It was impressive to be sure, and adds confidence to the team who now head to Green Bay for a show-down with a rejuvenated Brett Favre and the Packers. Kickoff is this Sunday 6:30 PM ET, and the forecasted high for that day is 7 degrees Fahrenheit. Good lord. Anyway, you know I’ll be tuned in to FOX, who are covering the game beginning at 6, which should be right around the time Tom Brady should be speaking to the media about the Pats’ win over the Chargers. Honestly, the Chargers are so banged up, it’ll take a miracle for them to come out of New England with anything less than a whipping.

Saturday night I went with Brian and Karen up to the Tin Angel in Philly to hear some new material from my buddies Erik Mitchell & Robert Desjardins. They shared the stage with two other Philly-based singer/songwriters, Lizanne Knott and John Conahan. They called it “Playing In The Round”. In my experience, that usually means that the stage is set up in the middle of the crowd, and the performers turn to face the different sides of the crowd at various intervals.y

However, in this case, it meant that all of the musicians would be on stage at the same time, playing on each others’ songs. John would sing one of his, then Lizanne, then Erik. The whole time, Robert and Garrett? provided the rhythm section of drums and bass respectively.

The show was great, if a little short. Having started at 7:15, everything was done by 9:15. We had all made tentative plans to go out and grab some drinks, but with Erik being busy meeting and greeting everyone who had come to the show, things just didn’t work out.

By 10:30, Brian, Karen and I had ended up back in Delaware at Iron Hill Brewery drinking some IPAs and jamming to some tunes on their jukebox. Around midnight we got a call from their friends Dave & Jody who invited us to their house for a nightcap.

We arrived at the house welcomed by the sounds of Bobby Darin’s “Mack The Knife” blasting through the walls. We sat and listened to the rest of the Bobby Darin album, and then it was time to go home. A wonderfully eclectic evening with good friends.

Photo Courtesy of FoolCircle.net

No internet access at home since Thursday makes Mike a very grumpy man. Being on the phone with Comcast a total of 4.5 hours over that same time frame makes Mike almost unbearable to be around. Having to leave work early today in order to let the technicians in to figure out what’s wrong leaves me fuming.

Yet, that doesn’t compare to what it must have been like to be around me immediately following Saturday’s game against Birmingham City.

I think Arsene nailed it on the head when he said that he thought the players seemed to think it would be easy to beat Birmingham. He’s absolutely right, and I’m glad he called them on it.

We’ve got a week to sort it out, and I hope we annihilate Fulham, 7-0 or 8-0 will suit me just fine.

In a match not without controversy, an offside goal by Spurs was cancelled out by what may have been a hand-of-Walcott equalizer 12 minutes from time as an underperforming Arsenal drew 1-1 with Spuds in the 1st leg of the Carling Cup Semis tonight at the Grove.

As nice as it was to hear the chants of “You’ll Never Beat The Arsenal!”, Arsenal really were crap for the majority of the match, and should count themselves quite lucky to have gotten a result at all.

Spuds’ away goal looms large, but there’s still reason to be confident that the Gunners will come away with a win at the Lane in a fortnight’s time.

Meanwhile, it’s back to the league (Remember that?), and a match at home against Birmingham City. Kickoff is 10 AM ET on Saturday, and there’ll be live coverage here in the US on Fox Soccer Channel.

1. Radiohead - In Rainbows
   By far the best album of the year, see my review of a few months back for details.
2. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
   Following the breakout success of 2005’s Funeral was always going to be tough for these Montreal indie-darlings. They knocked it out of the park.
3. The Shins - Wincing The Night Away
   While not as strong as their previous effort, the songs on this album surprised me when I heard them played live. Going back and listening again, I think it was the shadow of “Chutes Too Narrow” that first effected my opinion. Now, this album stands on it’s own.
4. White Stripes - Icky Thump
   Their best album in years. Even when they’re experimenting, it works.
5. Feist - The Reminder
   Another record I was turned onto by Josh. Leslie Feist, sometimes of Broken Social Scene, got a huge boost when her songs “My Moon, My Man” and “1,2,3,4″ were featured on iPod commercials, but it was the first time I heard “I’m Sorry” in Josh’s car on the way to pick up his HDTV converter that hooked me in, and it has yet to let go.
6. Wilco -Sky Blue Sky
   This one seems to be a love it/hate it record for a lot of people. I come down on the “love it” side of the argument.
7. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga
   Not as strong as “Gimme Fiction”, but the songs do kick ass - especially live.
8. Lily Allen - Alright, Still
   When I first heard “LDN” on Sirius’ Left Of Center in the fall of 2006, it was like a ray of sunshine had come bursting forth from my car stereo. Not content to wait until the official US release date in January 07, I found some tracks online thanks to some of my English friends, and was savoring tracks such as “Friday Night”, “Knock ‘Em Out”, and of course “Smile” weeks before the album came out here. I bought the CD the day it came out, and it’s been in constant rotation on my iPod ever since.
9. Avett Brothers - Emotionalism
   I first heard about the Avett Brothers from my cousin Jeff during our annual trip to Sea Isle back in July. He had mentioned that they were going to be playing up the street from my house, and that he was coming down - Did I want him to get me a ticket? I had to confess that I’d never heard of them, but that was quickly remedied. Jeff sent me a bunch of discs, including their latest and best effort, Emotionalism. The unique blend of folk and country with punk influences is challenging and rewarding.
10. Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
    Britain’s current favorites avoided the “sophomore jinx” with a great record. Check out the stand out track “Fluorescent Adolescent”.

Left out of top ten only because it’s purely an album of covers:

1. Various Artists - I’m Not There Soundtrack
   While I was most excited to hear Stephen Malkmus and The Hold Steady, it was Roger McGuinn’s version of “One More Cup of Coffee” that absolutely blew me away. A very special album.

Honorary mentions:
Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
Art Brut - It’s A Bit Complicated
Flight Of The Conchords - The Distant Future
Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
The Good, The Bad & The Queen - The Good, The Bad & The Queen
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
New Pornographers - Challengers
Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full
Amy Winehouse - Back To Black

Wow. Not much more to say. I admit that I was feeling that this game was one the Giants could win, but as usual, it was said with fingers crossed, hoping that Eli Manning wouldn’t screw up.

Well, perhaps this will be the game we look back on as a turning point. Eli was nearly perfect today in Tampa - no turnovers at all - as the Giants moved past the Buccaneers with relative ease in an NFC Wild Card weekend match up.

Even with all the pre-game storm-in-a-tea-cup crap regarding Ronde Barber’s so-called bulletin board material, and Jeff Garcia’s so-called hoax over the Giants in the playoffs, Big Blue won their first playoff game since the NFC title game against the Vikings in 2001.

That win earned the Giants a ticket to Dallas to take on the Cowboys next Sunday. It’s the first time these NFC East rivals have met in the playoffs. The Cowboys have already beaten the Giants twice this year, will they do it a third? Or will the Giants build on the excellent performance of guys like Manning and Ahmad Bradshaw? You know I’ll be tuned into FOX at 4:30 next Sunday to find out.