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I'm back with my first full post in over a week. It was a nice vacation, even if I didn't get laid as much as I hoped for...

Sox Update: The Sox look like the Cub in letting this one slip thru their fingers... another loss in Oakland 4-20 in their last 24 games there. Ugh)... On the positive side, Ozuna was 2 for 4 with a stolen base. Thomas and Dye each homered.

Down On The Farm:

Charlotte (AAA): The Kinghts somehow find a way to beat Pawtucket 5-4 in 13. Gload was 5 for 7. Villcais gets 3 Ks in 2 IP while picking up the win.

Birmingham (AA): Beat Montgomery 9-1. Fields gets 2 hits, a homer and a double, and drives in 4. Young collects 3 hits. Tracey goes the distance in earning his 9th win of the season against just 3 losses.

Winston-Salem (A): Beat Kinston 3-2. Collaro Watch: 0 for 4 with 3 strikouts. Ouch. Lopez gets the win in 3 innings of relief work, striking out 4.

Kannapolis (A): rained out at Augusta.

Great Falls (R): Lose to Helena 6-5. Roberts was 2 for 4 with a triple.

Bristol (R): Lose to Pulaski 7-4. Williamson strikes out 9 in 4 and 1/3rd, but also yields 6 ER.

Baseball phrase of the day: braille-man n.arch. coach skilled at sending signs and hand signals to base runners.

I spent a good portion of saturday afternoon watching the Live 8 Concert. I vividly recall Live Aid in 1985, which took place while I was on a family vacation in Southern California. I have memories of listening to the Who while we drove thru Beverly Hills looking for homes of the stars, and watching the George Thorogood/Albert Collins set in the lobby of a Hollywood hotel. That 1985 show is often described as really great. And while it was good, I'd disagree to the greatness of the music and the performances. The biggest names in music at the time - Michael Jackson, Prince, Springsteen and the Stones - all skipped it. Alternative music - like the Replacements - were also unrepresented. So who was missing from Live 8, besides the same names that skipped it in 85? The Strokes, GNR (though Velvet relvover did play).

So, here are some of my impressions of what I saw:

--Pink Floyd looks oooooooooooooold. But they still look better than the Stones. Despite the hype, those tired songs have not gotten any better with age.
--I didn't see any coverage of the Toronto show. Musta been heavy on the Bryan Adams and Tragically Hip.
--the Black Eyed Peas hauled out Rita and Stephen Marley for "Get Up Stand Up", which was great. But its hard to take your eyes off that chick in BEP. She is just smokin hot.
--I'm not of fan of either Linkin Park or Jay Z, but together they are just awsome. By far the best act I saw. Truly a great (and rare) pop collobroation that works. They are "powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline."
--You know the concert blows when one of the highlights is Mariah Carey.
--the song Good Charlotte played in Toyko was a rip of Cheap Trick's "I Want You To Want Me."
--Kayne West came in from the Southside to represent in Philly. He was awsome. He had about a dozen hot chicks behind him, dressed like that Robert Palmer video, playing violins and cellos... blindfolded.
--For all its good intentions, I don't think forgiving debt will solve Africa's problems. Maybe its a start. Maybe. You've still got massive corruption, tribal warfare, unimaginable cultural differences... all in God's own petri dish of disease. No one knows the answer for Africa. Maybe there is no answer.