London...Calling All Manny Critics

R.I.P. Dom DiMaggio

Former Red Sox great, Dom DiMaggio, died early this morning at his Massachusetts home. He was 92 years old. Dom, the younger brother of Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio, was a 7-time all-star playing centerfield for the Boston Red Sox. He had been suffering from pneumonia up until his death. He was a Red Sock until the end. We'll love and miss you, Dom.

R.I.P. Dom
February 12, 1917 – May 8, 2009

How I Would Fix One of the Best Songs Ever
by Conor Levis


I was listening to "London Calling" by The Clash the other day and decided there was a way to make it even better. It's already one of the 15 greatest songs of all-time...but I feel something is missing. Wouldn't a short guitar solo around the 2:00 mark of the song make it that much better? Just a thirty second solo, that way it isn't over the top and it keeps the song under 4 minutes which is still acceptable for radio airplay. I don't know why they never incorporated one, every time I listen to the song I'm always waiting for it around the 2 minute mark. It's still a classic regardless...I've just always felt this way.




Leave Manny Alone!
by Conor Levis

Get off of Manny's back...unless you've got his back. I'm tired of all the Manny Ramirez bashing because it's completely unwarranted. As I'm sure everyone has heard by now, Manny was suspended 50 games by the league for taking a banned substance under it's drug policy. Since the story broke, there's been all sorts of hate thrown in Manny's direction. Some people, notably Bill Plaschke from the LA Times, have called him selfish, a cheater, and a fake. How can somebody who calls himself a journalist make such outrageous allegations before we have all the information? This is what we know so far about the Manny situation:

1) The banned substance, a woman's fertility drug, was in a medication that was prescribed to him by a doctor. He wasn't prescribed the drug itself, just a drug that had the substance in it.

2) Manny didn't know the substance was in the medication and he didn't even know the substance was banned with MLB's drug policy. If you were to believe any player who pleads ignorance...wouldn't you believe Manny? Manny is the same guy who asked his agent if he could afford a $200,000 house after signing an eight-year, $160 million contract with the Red Sox. I think you would.

3) The reason the fertility drug is on the banned substance list is because players use it as a masking agent for steroids. That's why it's on the list...that does not automatically mean that Manny took it for that reason. Why is it so inconceivable that Manny receieved a personal prescription medicine that had that substance in it? I'm pretty sure there are a ton of banned substances on that list. The odds seem pretty good that one of those could cross the path of a Major Leaguer if a doctor is not completely familiar with everything on that list. I'd like to hear from Manny's doctor about all of this.

4) Direct quote from Manny: "I do want to say one other thing; I've taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons." Isn't there truth to that? Think of how many tests Manny probably had to go through since the MLB cracked down on steroid use. This has never been an issue before, he obviously passed them all. Now people want to call him a cheater because he tested positive for a woman's fertility drug, something that isn't even a steroid? There's no basis to that claim.

Look, all I'm saying is give the guy a chance. The way the media has handled this situation is disgusting, everybody is jumping to conclusions. We don't have enough information yet to start crucifying this guy. For all we know he could have been taking some kind of viagra. He's still the best right handed hitter of this generation, maybe ever. We can't take that away from him just yet.

Leave this man alone.

The Great Adventures of Slick Rick 2

by Rick

Sorry for the length, I normally keep them short but this is the tale of an entire weekend. Enjoy or just pass over it if you have ADD.

A few weeks ago I embarked on a journey of a lifetime... well maybe not lifetime, but it certainly was an expierence. I am a huge fan of both Pharrell Williams and Lupe Fiasco, and when I heard the two would both be at the same concert I decided I had to go. The concert was at St. Johns. I figured since I was going to NYC why not just hop on a bus and visit a second friend at Villanova. I woke up Friday morning, the day of the concert, at 6. I then got on the Amtrak from Durham to North Station. At this point in the story I'd like to inform the reader that I had not prepurchased any ticket. So I get to Boston, take the T from North to South Station, and then look for the Fung Wah Bus Terminal. If you dont know anything about the Fung Wah bus then get educated. Needless to say this was a risk. I boarded the bus and I was on a $15 dollar journey to Chinatown. Sitting on the Fung Wah one soon begins to understand how all of our country's great immigrants felt while on the boats from Europe to America. It was uncomfortable, the chances of making it there were just as good as not making it, there were like 8 different languages all being spoken at once, it was an expierence. I suggest anyone who hasnt please take the 5 hour busride alone on the Fung Wah at some point. I made it to NYC, I met my fake canadian friend, and went to St. Johns. It really is a beautiful school. We started drinking and things of that nature to prepare for the concert. Word around the Queens campus was Lupe cancelled. This upset me but whatevs NERD was still playing. After an incredibly long wait Lupe came out and killed it. Another long wait and then out came NERD. Wow. Thats all you can say about them. The energy is incredible, its definately a show to see if you ever get a chance. Live band, moshing, things most rap shows dont have, but NERD really put it together well. The next morning I got on the bus to go to Philly, normally a short trip, unless there is a 10 car accident on the exit ramp on 95 in Jersey. Guess where I was at at 1 pm on 4/25/09... on a greyhound sitting unaware that the next 6 hours of my life would be shot to hell. I saw people turning their cars around and driving the wrong way down the breakdown lane, but busses dont have the turning radius required for that manuever. Poeple just parked and got out of there cars. Imagine the Six Flags parking lot, thats what it looked like on the highway. By the time I got to Nova everyone had begun falling asleep from drinking all day. That didnt stop me from drinking the better portion of a fifth, walking with Chris to get some of the best wings ever, and then meeting a reasonably racist kid near a giant climbing wall. I wanted to climb the wall, but they had removed all the lower footplaces, probably to keep kids like me from climbing it. The next day I took a bus from Philly to NY, where I met a dude who goes to church with Ben Watson, and sat next to a dude who got on the wrong bus. Apparrently this guy and his girlfriend were going to NC to see his dad, who he hadnt seen for 17 years. This guy got on the wrong bus in Philly and went back to New York after taking a bus to Newark, Trenton, then Philly. Once he realized that his girlfriend was on her way on a different bus, he said, and I quote, "its been 17 years, a few more hours wont hurt" I then walked from Port Authority to Chinatown, which doesnt seem far on the map, but is a days journey by foot. I felt like Ponce de Leon on his quest for the fountain of youth, except I was looking for an Asian bus company. I took the 5 hour trip back to Boston, where this girl sitting behind me faked an Australian accent. When she was talking it was clearly defined, but once she recieved a phonecall and was awaken from her slumber she answered in a hazey regular voice. What a fake bitch. If your reading this please just stop pretending. Be yourself! I again had to get from South to North Station, where the weirdest part of my journey happened. I saw a drunkard while waiting for the T, and when he talked to me I was polite and kept talking with him. He asked me where I was heading and said he could show me the way. He stayed with me until I got to North Station. Along the way he told me he was 50 and gay, asked for my number (I said i didnt have a phone, but in retrospect I should have given him a friend's number), told me how he had been arrested for assualt and battery against his 70 year old disabled Nun sister, and held every handshake uncomfortably long. I sat next to a complete toolbag on the train back to UNH, who was slangin game to this really hot bitch. What he didnt know tho is she had a boyfriend. "Rick, how the hell would you know she had a boyfriend?" Good question, when the toolbag dude got up to go to the bathroom her boyfriend called. So own3d. I made it back to Durham at 1 a.m., still early enough to spend $20 dollars and then watch TV. Life.

Rick's Hot Bitch of the Day:

Emily Wells

Emily Wells is kinda hot. She is also a wonderful musician. Her music is really cool. Look at how she loops everything, how she plays the violin, and the thing she does with the mic thing we all had as kids at 2:08. So beautiful. Go to her myspace to check out her cover of Juicy, which in my very humble opinion is one of the greatest covers I've every heard. Buy her Dirty Ep 5/26. Emily Wells, you are todays incredibly talented hot bitch.

Conor's Hot Bitch of the Day:

Farrah Fawcett

As reports surface that Farrah Fawcett is in the final stages of her battle with cancer, we want to pay our tribute to the beauty that she was. One of the original Charlie's Angels, Farrah is a noted pop culture figure whose hairstyle was emulated by millions of young women, and a sex symbol for millions of young men in the 1970s and 1980s. She truly was as beautiful as they come. Here's to Farrah Fawcett!