As an eccentric you know all about being predictable.

Most of you probably know that DJ made it to the All-Star Game. My heart felt thanks to all of you that voted for him.

Last night concluded the subway series against the Mets, and the Yankees were simply relentless in a 16-6 win. The ESPN announcers were similarly relentless. On and on they went about their own small petty coaching philosophies, trying to get inside the minds of the pitching coaches and the GMs. Once in a brief while they remembered that there was a baseball game on and would actually commentate. Although when they did that they would just get it wrong. Announce an incorrect batting order, Nick Green's single homer became a double just because they said so. Maddening. This is why I pay extra for MLB extra innings, and why I am lobbying hard for the Gay Baseball Network, or at a minimum the Gay Sports Network. It can have Baseball, Wrestling, Swimming, Gymnastics, European and Australian Soccer, but not not not American, and that's about all. Maybe I'll think of some other sports I like. Boxing, but I don't think so.

This weekend was unbearable. On both days it reached 90 degrees before noon. On Saturday afternoon I read Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer, and was taken with the description of the white heat. The white hot heat. This Heat. I have now started to read Dave Eggers' You Shall Know Our Velocity, and I tried to watch Munich this weekend, but just could not get into it.

True to their word Amazon did indeed deliver the new Pet Shop Boys on Friday, and I enjoyed it over the weekend. Although since I am not working with The Darkness anymore The Pet Shop Boys seem to occupy a less vital role in my life, but it is fine entertainment nonetheless. Fine entertainment does not really do this album justice. I refuse to see PSB as a guilty pleasure. Certainly not by people who find Radiohead interesting. I'm With Stupid is a clever and catchy swipe at Tony Blair and Dubya. The Sodom & Gommorah Show is anthemic and pretty. Minimal & Integral are both healthy dance tracks. I can't remember when I really started to appreciate the Pet Shop Boys, but I think it was during Summer 2003.

I also got a ton of other music, that I can't even really get into, but I will try:

Cantankerous: Demented and saucy.
Ricardo Villalobos (Salvador): Good but probably not as good as everyone says.
Skipsapians (eco): Hidden treasures abound in this recording.
Vladisav Delay (entain): Certainly not new, but if you know who this is, then you know enough.
Eight Frozen Modules (Clinically Yours): So tired. I've heard this before. Something called Autechre. Can't believe this shite cost me 19 dollars. Only bought it because it was the only thing Amoeba had from the reborn Mille Plateaux imprint Plateaux Resistance. And judging by this they should have stayed burried.

As you can probably tell I am taking a break from traditional rock for a while. There just doesn't seem to be anything out there that really grabs me. I was close to buying a Magazine CD, but really? Magazine? Me? No. I can borrow that from someone.

Anyway, everyone have a happy fourth. Make sure to get your statism on and rock your nationalism non-stop. America! Fuck Yeah!