a few random things (note: this got waaaay long):

- heading back to chi-town this weekend. party at the wysock pad on friday night - always a blast, especially when a rosin bag is involved. the decemberists on saturday, laundry in glenview on sunday. perhaps even more demo cd burning, although that's a generally pointless and fruitless endeavor.

- bernie williams is getting old, and clearly can't play center field on a daily basis anymore. the boss loves him, and seems loyal to players in general and especially to williams (hall of famer? perhaps). the boss clearly overpaid for giambi, who's probably untradeable. you figure that, next year, williams dh's 80 games, plays center for 40 games, and is injured for the other 42. for those 80 games, giambi's gotta be the first baseman. what does that mean? NICK JOHNSON's going to be available at some point. get him. now. he's a young lefthanded bat. (and a good one, hee sop.) engineer a three-way deal. send choi somewhere else, have third-party send an overpriced, gloveless veteran to the yanks, have the yanks send the cubs mr. johnson. smile.

- watched bron-bron again tonight, and the kid does have a floor sense. he made a few turnovers, of course, while trying to force passes. but he also has a flare for the dramatic. with four minutes left in a six-point game, he pulled off one of those can-you-believe-he-threw-an-alley-oop-pass-now passes, reminiscent of kobe-to-shaq during portland's collapse in the conference finals in 2000. (although the game was a snoozer and an embarrassment to the dunleavy (?)-coached blazers, i rank that lob as one of the great plays i've ever seen.)

- why am i watching bron-bron so much? soon, the plan is to get paid to watch nba and college hoops games. tougher than it sounds.

- in 2002, i announced games for the great joe mauer, who received a five-million dollar signing bonus, straight out of high school. people were surprised that the twins would dole out that cash, but nobody openly rooted against him. sure, five million's not nine figures (although the cavs are probably paying bron-bron only about five-million per annum), but it's sure a lot for a high school catcher from minnesota. high school catchers never pan out, although it appears joe mauer, minor league player of the year in 2003, will.

- i saw this great band, the thrills, on conan last night. summery, shimmering, harmonic pop out of scotland. sort of beach boysy, sort of byrdsy...perhaps a latter day teenage fanclub. anyway, they're on some major label, and their debut, coming out tuesday, is getting the pete yorn discount. that is, they're selling it for $9.99, hoping the thrills break huge, and then upping the price to $17.99. (i saw the first train record, the one with "meet virginia," priced at $8.99 for about seven months. the single broke, and suddenly the price had doubled. supply and demand, baby.) i've got a discover card cashback bonus borders gift card a-comin', and i think the thrills record and the most recent belle&sebastian efforts are on the docket. or maybe b&s's if you're feeling sinister.

- nobody respects the black rebel motorcycle club. people say they're derivative and boring. they might be derivative, but they're awesome, i say. their most recent record, take them on, on your own, might be a top five release for me this year. it should be noted that i haven't bought much, and that gbv's earthquake glue might be my favorite. although that's just an off-the-top-of-my-head thought.

- i'm starting to question flax's commitment to the bigflax.com top 20 poll. i mean, it's thursday, dammit. how far did the huskies fall?

- go cats. beat the boilers. woof.