When the Giants Come to Town, It's Bye-Bye Baby

02.21.2008
Do Not Throw Gently Into That Good Night

First Rickey Henderson, now Fidel Castro. Good God, who’s retiring next? Julio Franco?

Castro was reportedly looking forward to spending the summer at Pro Player Stadium watching the Marlins, but then he heard that because of America’s crypto-colonial system of imperialistic labor subjugation, Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis were traded to the Tigers. “No D-Train, no justice, no peace!” he said through an interpreter.

A few other notes:

* A new member of our blog network has one of my favorite blog names ever: Who Made You Mirabelli? Non-stop Red Sawx coverage, of course.

* Speaking of our network, the Spring Training ‘08 site wants to publish your spring training photos or videos. Submit them here.

* Hooray! Giants Jottings is back in business with daily reports from Arizona.  

* BP’s Clay Davenport says Giant non-roster invitee Bartolome Fortunato pitched 18 1/3 scoreless innings in Dominican winter ball.

* SMALL PRINT UPDATE: Now listening to Bob Dylan’s Time Out of Mind, which won the best album Grammy in 1998 and was widely hailed as a huge comeback for him. I don’t get it. I don’t mind his Howlin’ Wolf rasp, and I generally like the spare, sharp production (Daniel Lanois), but I can’t get past the lyrics. Dylan strings together one cliche after another, and the results are often embarrassing. “Make You Feel My Love” is a synth-pop ballad more appropriate for Michael Bolton. What’s worse, the songs often stretch for six or seven minutes, adding excess to the vagueness. “Highlands,” built around a hazy encounter with a waitress in a diner, goes on pointlessly for sixteen plus. Enlighten me: how did this album get so much praise?



Also on the Network:



[February 21, 2008 4:37 PM]  |  link  |  reply
trilljester said

About the album: I agree 100% about it. I didn't think it was his best work and the blinded praise thrown on it was ridiculous back in the late 90's. I guess just because it has Dylan's name attached to it makes it an instant classic in the mind of many reviewers?

Who is Fortunato besides being the fortunate one?

[February 21, 2008 4:47 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Elbo said

"Make You Feel My Love" is a low point for sure. Michael Bolton never got to that one, but Billy Joel and Garth Brooks were among those who did.

[February 21, 2008 5:47 PM]  |  link  |  reply
bigO said

Dylan was the only concert in my life that I walked out on while it was still going. '93 or '94 at the Palladium in LA. It sucked.

[February 21, 2008 6:42 PM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM said

I should clarify that I'm a big Dylan fan. Not diehard fanatic, but I've worn out a couple copies of Blood on the Tracks. Trilljester's comment rings true, though: people cut him a ton of slack because he's Bob Dylan.

[February 21, 2008 7:52 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Evan said

That album got so much adulation because it was the first Dylan album in ages that didn't completely suck. In retrospect, now that he's made a couple of albums that are much better, it's pretty weak.

"Not Dark Yet" is great, though.

[February 22, 2008 5:45 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Matt Schiavenza said

I'm a huge Dylan fan and I agree completely with Time Out of Mind- and everything else he has done in the past thirty years or so with one or two exceptions "Blind Willie McTell", "Every Grain of Sand", the one from The Big Lebowski, etc.

Maybe I'm just a young curmudgeon, but very few artists from that era are still making relevant music. Neil Young is a notable exception.

[February 25, 2008 11:46 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Elbo replied to Matt Schiavenza

The one from the Big Lebowski is actually more than 30 years old, by the way. It's on 'New Morning'.

[February 22, 2008 8:14 AM]  |  link  |  reply
WalrusMan said

I believe it was the Giants who made Mirabelli...

[February 22, 2008 10:21 AM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM replied to WalrusMan

>I believe it was the Giants who made Mirabelli...

First triple ever at Mays Field!

[February 22, 2008 12:27 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Elbo said

Actually I'm a fan of 'World Gone Wrong,' which preceded 'Time Out Of Mind'. I'm not sure it belongs in this conversation because it's all traditional (or semi-traditional) songs, but it didn't completely suck, that's for sure. His batting average for new studio records between the late 70s and 1997 was pretty low, though.

I adore 'Love & Theft' from top to bottom, and rank 'Modern Times' not far behind it.