On Sunday, while flying 40,000 feet in the air somewhere between New York and Atlanta, already in a somber mood from the end of a wonderful weekend in New York, I decided to go through my iPod and see which songs I consider to be my “all-time favorite Clarence songs.” Now, when I say Clarence songs, these are only E-Street band songs (no solo releases) that are either Clarence-laden or include a Clarence solo. To me, Clarence’s part either stole the song or gave it meaning.

• “Jungeland,” Born to Run – A no brainer. As I found out this weekend, Clarence spent over 16 hours rehearsing his solo on this song. When you think of Jungleland, you think of Clarence’s part. Important to me, I remember slow dancing to his solo with my girlfriend at her first Bruce concert in 2008.
  
• “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” Christmas of Hope – Clearly not an original E-Street song but Clarence’s part always puts a smile on his face with his ho-ho-ho’s and solo. It’s not Christmas in my mind without playing this a few dozen times.
  
• “Land of Hope and Dreams,” Live in New York City – Big Man’s solo in this inspirational number is superb example of what Clarence does best: echo Bruce’s words with his sax.
  
• “Bobby Jean,” Born in the USA – Love it when he played this live! Brought the whole audience to synchronized waving.
  
• “Night,” Born to Run - Although not a solo, Clarence’s part in the beginning and end of this song always got my heart beating a little faster.
  
• “Out in the Street,” The River - In his deep voice, “MEET ME OUT IN THE STREET, BAAAAABY” always got a big ovation from the crowd. I was C’s last show in NYC in 2009 and was saddened to see that he couldn’t get out of his seat to say this, Bruce had to come over to him.
  
• “Long Walk Home,” Magic – When this album came out in 2007, hearing Clarence’s solo on this song gave me chills. I thought to myself, “HE’S STILL GOT IT!”
  
• “Drive All Night,” The River - Probably only second to Jungleland in the emotional reaction the song brings. I recommend people watch the scene in “Reign O’er Me” that uses C’s solo. Terrible movie, great use of the song.
  
• “So Young and In Love,” Tracks – One of the finest examples of the soul Clarence brought to E-Street
  
• “Sherry Darling,” The River – It’s not summer until I hear this song! Whenever I heard Clarence’s part, my mind jumps to the beach, wherever I may be.

After finalizing this playlist and listening from beginning to end, I went through the continuum of emotions. I went from sorrow over the finality of the situation to joy. Joy that Clarence’s work is only fingertips away at all times, joy I was able to see Clarence in concert, joy that the “biggest man the world has ever seen” is forever on the soundtrack to my life. Thank you Clarence for being you, you did nothing but put smiles on people’s faces. Despite the “teardrops on the city,” this is a time to celebrate Clarence’s life. A grand life lived by a larger than life character. Rest in peace Big Man, I’ll meet your further on the road.

Looks like it’s the rehearsal but this version from Live From New York City gives me chills

Sherry Darling

Now, perhaps the reason the game was not sold out was becauase of the economy and tickets to these games are not cheap. However, last season I went to an Rangers/Islanders game at the Coliseum and it was sold out. I don’t need to tell you that the economy was bad last year as well. There is no other reason I can think to explain why Islander fans skipped on the game and the atmoshphere. The team is competitive, they have a lot of good young players, they are playing much better than in the beginning of the season and they are playing their biggest rivals. Now the Islanders are in danger of having to move out of Long Island (to Kansas City, Queens, Canada, Brooklyn wherever), something that I am dreading. Even though I do not like the Islanders, I love the rivalry between the Rangers and Islanders and the whole three NY -Metro area bragging rights (Rangers, Islanders and Devils), I don’t want to loose that. Additionally, I grew up on Long Island and I always enjoyed going to Islanders games at the Coliseum. It is a cheaper alternative to going to Madison Square Garden and seeing the Rangers whose tickets are way overpriced. The Islanders and the Coliseum another piece of my childhood and hey, when I have kids, I would like to take them to Coliseum.

The reason why I bring this up is because the Lighthouse Project (the development project to renovate the Coliseum and build additional entertainment amenities to the Island) is not doing well. The town of Hempstead will not give the okay for the project (I still cannot believe that voters re-elected town supervisor Kate Murray, who will not allow the project). If Islander fans want the Islanders to stay on Long Island, the Lighthouse projects needs to happen. For this to happen, the Islander fans need to give the town of Hempstead a reason to keep the Islanders (i.e., show their support for the team). The way to do this is to show up for the games and spend money on the tickets. Why would anyone approve a multi-billion dollar project if they don’t think they will receive compensation out of it. If Islander fans don’t show up to an Rangers/Islanders game than what game will they show up to? Islander fans you need to support your team to demonstrate the Islanders deserve to stay on Long Island. If this poor population trend continues than you do not have an argument if the team decides to move. Lets to Islander fans, heck I’ll even help.

As MTA Board member Andrew Albert puts it, “These cuts are going to change the New York way of life.” No crap, Andrew. Listen, I’m sure that these decisions are not easy for the big-wigs at the MTA to make and the people who made these decisions probably do feel sympathy and remorse for us New Yokers, but what the hell are you guys doing? You’re decisions are asinine. Why isn’t this deficit going down? I thought that increasing our Metrocard fares was suppose to take care of that? How many train and bus lines are you going to cut? And you’re going to fire workers and not rehire their positions? I’m sure that will increase efficiency and worker productivity (don’t forget to mention employee satisfaction).  What are you basing your decisions on? You’re taking out your inability to manage your agency on us citizens. Instead of punishing us, why not punish yourself? Reduce your salaries to show good will.

The MTA’s decisions are beyond baffling. Making students pay for their Metrocards? What city, town, county or district in the United States forces their children to have to pay to get to school? If families can’t afford Metrocards (which many can’t), then guess what? They’re not going to go to school. Hence this will further increase truancy, drop-out rates and affect school’s test scores and graduation rates. BIG PICTURE HERE FOLKS. As for scaling back Access-A-Ride services, you’re joking right? For those who may not be aware, Access-A-Ride is a bus and car service for those with disabilities who are not able to use public transportation due to orthopedic, cognitive or emotional reasons. The MTA is planning on eliminating the door-to-door service they provide and instead drop individuals with disabilities off at the nearest bus or subway station. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? If individuals with disabilities were able to get to the bus or subway station, THEY WOULDN’T NEED ACCESS-A-RIDE. How dare you force these individuals who do not have the capacity to transport to go out on their own. Maybe they can’t walk to the station or maybe they don’t have the mental capacity to navigate. WHAT ARE YOU DOING, MTA!?

And as for the G Train? Ugh, my girlfriend and I have the unfortunate luck to have to take the G train to work in the morning (ps: the G train is the shuttle between Queens and Brooklyn for you Manhattanites who never leave your island). Let me be honest here loyal readers, the service on the G trains sucks. I can’t even begin to imagine what “decreased service” is going to mean. Right now, in rush hour, the G train leaves it’s starting destination (23rd Street) approximately once every ten minutes (only slightly better than the frequency of rush hour trains for the commuter service Long Island Railroad), uses the most dilapidated, dirty, old and noisy cars, only has four cars per train (which means its gets pretty crowded) and once or twice I week I have to get off the train in the middle of my ride because the train decides to become an express train (even though it is an only local line) to the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station and skips my stop. How much worse can the G train get?

How much worse can the MTA get? We need our representatives to do their job we elect them for and stand up for us. Our beloved transit system is drastically falling to a pathetic state.

Despite this, there is some news we can salvage out of the Roy Halladay trade to the Phillies; the Phillies had to trade Cliff Lee to the Mariners. If the Phillies had both Cliff Lee and Roy Hallday then we might as well just cancel the season. However with Halladay just replacing Lee, the Phillies have only mildly improved. Roy Halladay is a better pitcher than Cliff Lee but after this post-season we have learned that Cliff Lee is a good playoffs pitcher. We don’t know that about Roy Halladay as he spent his whole career in Toronto where he has been unproven in big spots. So it’s not so much that the Phillies acquired Roy Halladay, it’s that now he is off the market making it impossible for the Mets to acquire him. However, the Mets may have not even had the opportunity to sign these pitchers as I have recently read that both Halladay and Lackey were not interested in coming to the Mets. I’m sure this had nothing to do with the pressure of the New York since they both signed in high-pressure baseball cities and Halladay would have approved a deal with the Yankees. It was probably more that the Mets have an atrocious front office who mishandle everything.

John Lackey and Roy Halladay were the ships to take the Mets to the playoffs. Well, those ships have sailed off elsewhere and I do not see anyone else out there who will drastically improve the Mets. Enough of the Jason Bay talk already. He’s a nice player but he wants a five-year contract. No way! I do want the Mets to invest their money into long term deals just for the sake of responding to the Phillies! Everyone on Phillies-land would laugh in our faces if we compare signing Jason Bay to trading for Roy Halladay. Anyway back to the five-year deal; I’m sure Bay will have two good years but after that, he won’t cut it. He’s 31 right now and in five years, when he is 36, fuggetaboudit.

As much as I hate to say it, please do not spend big money this offseason on long term deals. Sure I do not mind one-year or two-year contracts to guys like Benji Molina, Orlando Hudson (granted they can get rid of Castillo), Vladimir Guerrero, Jack Cust, Rich Harden, Darren Oliver or Xavier Nady but that’s it. The team has to free up the money for next year’s free agency for guys like Carl Crawford, Joe Mauer, Carlos Pena, Josh Beckett and Cliff Lee. I will be more grateful in the long run. I’d rather have a mediocore team that competes this season than an overapaid team that underperforms for the next five seasons. Let’s give these core players another chance assuming they stay healthy (knock on wood!). Honestly, how bad could a team with a healthy Reyes, Wright, Santana, Beltran and K-Rod be?

Now for the less serious part:

I have an idea for the Wilpons and Minaya. As a way for the Mets to draw fans to the ballpark while freeing up money for next season, they should sign Tiger Woods to a one year deal as a manager, coach, 2nd baseman, left fielder, whatever. As a manager, he’s had experience at managing 12 to 15 different people at once while keeping everyone involved happy (to a point). As a player, he can swing a golf club, and the mechanics for that are similar to a baseball swing. So, who knows, he might be good. Tiger needs some money since he is taking a break from golf and he just lost his Accenture sponsorship (and maybe more). As for the interest in this signing, please tell me, who isn’t going to want spend some bucks Tiger Woods play baseball after this scandal. Think about all the heckling the fans will look forward to on a daily basis, “Hey Tiger, I heard you’re good with the wood,” or ” Hey Tiger, don’t forgot to out and shag some balls today.”  Mets organization, here is your ticket to keep the attendance up at CitiField this season while freeing up money to spend next offseason because this is a lost one.

That album, “Hanukkah Rocks!” was released in 2005 by JDub records (an all Jewish record company), so it is the five year anniversary of its released.  The album itself is 45 minutes of hilarity that really hit home for those of the Jewish faith. Some of these songs are just classics, that every Jew and goy* should listen to. Tracks such as Latke* Clan (“Your uncle’s here, he flew in from out of town, it’s nice to have him around, even though he’ s weird it’s Hanukkah”),  Apple Sauce Vs. Sour Cream asking the eternal question of what to put on your latke, Goyim Friends comparing great gifts goyims get on Christmas compared to the stereotypical dull Hanukkah gifts (but aso how goyims are jealous all of the Jewish holiday ["we get a day off...and another day off"]), How Do You Spell Chanukkah? and my personal favorites Gelt* Melts (“if a goy can eat a chocolate bunny, why can’t we eat chocolate money?”) and At the Timeshare (“down in Boca*, or was it Boyton or maybe Daytona…..or Tallahasse [BUT THERE'S NO JEWS THERE!]).  However, the one major flaw of the album is the :48 second track called “Silence.” Seriously guys, was that really necessary?

Considering it’s been five years since the release, it’s time for the band to come out with some new material. The Zambonis and Guster aren’t on worldwide tours that I’m aware. So get together and write some more tunes. As for the other guys, I don’t know what bands they are in, but I’m sure they can make time for to produce some more magic; I recently read that Shawn Fogel is playing in another JDub band, the Macaroons (JDub’s first kids band). Come on guys, you are the Chosen Band, we need you! And go back on tour! After I saw the LeeVees in 2006, I was lucky enough to see them again in 2007.  I wasn’t able to see them last year but they are not even on tour this year! In hopes of getting the band’s attendtion I am posting the Amazon.com and iTunes links to buy the albums. I figured if the loyal Matt is Blogging readers bought the album, the band will see that the folks out there still want to hear their music.

http://www.amazon.com/Hanukkah-Rocks-Leevees/dp/B000BH4YJA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1260558942&sr=8-1

http://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/the-leevees/id79565430

Listen to the LeeVees on LaLa

http://www.lala.com/#artist/The_LeeVees

Some Video of the LeeVees I recorded at their 2007 concert at the Highline Ballroom (Adam Gardner was not at this show due to the birth of his child)

Gelt Melts

Goyim Friends

Blueberry Bagel

The KKK Took My Baby Away

Latke Clan

Goyim Index (courtesy of Dictionary.com):

Dreidels: a four-sided top bearing the Hebrew letters nun, gimel, he, and shin, one on each side, used chiefly in a children’s game traditionally played on the Jewish festival of Hanukkah

Menorah: a nine-branched candelabrum used in celebration of Hanukkah

Macaroons: a drop cookie made of egg whites, sugar, usually almond paste or coconut, and sometimes a little flour

Kapeyle: Yiddish for a musical group

Meshuga: crazy

Kippa: or yarmulke (also called a skullcap or kappel) is a thin, slightly-rounded skullcap traditionally worn at all times by  observant Jewish men. Its use is associated with demonstrating respect and reverence for God

Goy: a non-Jewish person; gentile

Latke: a grated potato pancake

Gelt: chocolate shaped as a coin

Boca: short for Boca Raton (or mouse mouth). A city in southern Florida where older Jewish men and woman may move to when they retire

I’m not sure how it’s like out for the rest of the country known Matt is Bloggingico, but here in New York I’ve been seeing a lot of these new Halls Cough Drops advertisements in the Newspapers and subway (seen above).  To me, it’s like a car accident; it’s terrible but I can’t look away. What the hell are these things suppose to be? Are these touched-up photographs of actual people? Or are they computer animated characterizations? And why are they dressed like they are from the 1970′s? What does that have to do with cough drops?

Also, all of them have big noses that are red? Why is the nose so prominent? And Halls doesn’t help against runny noses so the fact their noses are red is stupid. If the company is trying to show they are fighting a sore throat (since it is their purpose), then show the people holding onto their throat like it’s bothering them. And don’t get me started on those little adages  (i.e., “Fight on Brave Soul”)…they are just extremely irritating. Like I just said, Halls are for sore throats, who is staying home from work or school because their throat is sore? If Halls was a fever reducer than I would understand, but a sore throat? Shut up.

As you can read, I can’t stand these ads. I will not be using Halls anytime this winter regardless of whether I get a cold, strep throat, seasonal flu or swine flu. I’ll stick to Switzerland’s best neutral cough drop, Ricola. They keep it simple; two Swiss men on a mountain, one blowing a horn and the shouting “Ricola.” Now these guys know how to sell cough drops: “take this product and you will be able to play your favorite instrument in high altitudes and yell random company names.” Why thank you Ricola, I think I will (plays a dijerido on top of the Chryslyer building and shouts “Snapple”).

What can I say. I screwed up big time. Might as well call me the Tiger Woods of blogging. I have not posted since February 4th, 2009…that’s bad. No, not bad, terrible. I don’t know what happened. Stuff happened. It all snowballed. There is no excuse, I’ve let you all down.  I don’t expect you to take me back right away.  I swear I wasn’t off writing other blogs, I’ve stayed true to this one. Don’t come after me 2AM swinging a golf club. I missed out on a lot of writing. I missed out on a lot of news. I missed the comments. I missed this.

However, I am back. I hope I can gain back your trust. I just need to gain some momentum and I should be able to post regularly. I hope this does not happen again. I will try my best, I can promise you that.

Sincerely,

Matt of Matt is Blogging

Now, being a Jewish professional hockey player, Jared is in the minority. However, while watching the game I discovered another fact about Jared that puts him in another minority. He was born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama! Seriously! So not only is Jared Ross a Jewish hockey, he is a Jewish hockey player from Alabama! According to an article on ahl.com, Jared played college hockey at the University of Alabama-Huntsville…who knew that the University of Alabama had a hockey team!? The article on ahl.com also stated that Jared ranks in the top three in school history in goals, assists and points. He led the team in scoring in each of his final three seasons, was a three-time College Hockey Association First-Team All-Star, and was the conference player of the year in 2003-04.

In the beginning of this season, Jared made his debut for the Philadelphia Flyers at their home opener against the Rangers of all teams (shows how observant I am). Jared became the first player born and trained in Alabama to play in the NHL. Congratulations, Jared! It’s about time someone broke that barrier. Was this the game where Sarah Palin was boo’ed when dropping the ceremonial puck?

I find this story quite interesting. Who knew Alabama was able to produce a NHL player? Who knew that there are Jews in Alabama (that is a GROSS generalization on my part…clearly there has to be a proud Jewish community in the state…just my attempt of being humorous…sorry if that offends any Alabama Jews). As Jack @ http://notaplumber.blogspot.com put it, what is more rare: a Jewish hockey player or a Jew in Alabama? I just wanted to share this to my readers as I think this is a random story and fun fact to learn. Maybe someone, one day, can win a bunch of money in a trivia game by knowing who the first Alabama-Native was in the NHL.

Ironically enough, according to the article on ahl.com, Jared was traded to Philadelphia for Niko Dimitrakos, A Greek-American hockey player. For those who know me, I am half-Jewish/half-Greek, so this intrigued me quite a bit. I bet this was the first time in professional sports history that a Jew was traded for a Greek.

Learn More About Jared Ross:

http://www.theahl.com/news/league/index.html?article_id=8957

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jared_Ross

If so many Mets fans are calling for Manny, the Mets should listen. Mets management owes something big, like Manny Ramirez, to Mets fans after the way the past two seasons ended. It is unacceptable for the Mets to be raising tickets prices at such an astronomical rate just to keep their team salary the same from 2008 to 2009 (Metsblog reported that this season’s team salary is around $145 million, the same as in 2008). Where is this money going? The new stadium is finished…they will not need anymore money to finance it. Citigroup is apparently not backing out of their deal, so the team is keeping around $400 million dollars. I understand that Bernie Madoff screwed the Wilpons out millions of dollars, but the Mets claim that that money had nothing to do with the Mets’ budget. And do not think to say that it’s a recession and Wilpons cannot afford another big name player, they have not adjusted ticket prices for their new stadium, they do not seem to care how the recession is affecting their fans. What’s wrong with another $25 million dollar investment for the 2009 and beyond? That money will be chump change compared to the money the team will make off Manny (merchandising, national television deals, etc.). Just look at how Woody Johnson milked every single dollar out of Brett Farve. What will bring more money to the Mets than a World Series Victory? Nobody will argue that Manny will make the Mets the favorite in the National League. The team fixed their bad bullpen and now needs to fix their poor clutch hitting from last season. Manny is the clutch hitter, hands down. I have no problem with giving him two years and an option for a third ($25 for the first two and $30 for the option). Honestly, although I am hesitant to guarantee a third year, I will do it at this point. Manny is a hitting machine, and has been a hitting machine for the past five years. There have been no signs of a dramatic drop off. How much worse will Manny be in three years? I do not think it will be a huge regression. Nobody else seems to be close to signing Manny; the Dodgers do not want to give him what he wants and the Giants are just claiming to be interested so the Dodgers will outbid themselves. The time is perfect for the Mets to jump in. Let’s do this, Omar, Jeff and Fred. It’s time to give to the fans a big thank you.

PS: The additions of Orlando Hudson (who is waiting for either NY team to call him) and Joe Beimel…as well as the subtraction of Luis Castillo will also be welcomed by me.