Today is the Phillies’s home opener. Maybe I’ll see you in the stands. I grew up being a Los Angeles Dodger fan because my Dad was a fan. I’m still a Dodger fan, even though they’re getting spanked in the season so far, but try to root for the Phils until LA rolls into town. I got to see the Dodgers play the Padres in San Diego last year during the season opening series. Somehow, spring comes sooner once baseball is mixed into the equation. I also have this theory that fans of indie rock and baseball often overlap. Basement-life.com shares that opinion, as well, and a few indie rock record label and band people are in their fantasy baseball league. They’ll be updating this on their site throughout the season, so check in occassionally and see how I fare.
Also, tonight is Douglas Witmer’s art opening during First Friday in Philadelphia. Douglas is an amazing painter and it’s well worth the effort to stop in, take notice, and shell out a couple of grand to buy some paintings. Here is a capsule of the info (you can go back through the March archives to find more details, if you’d prefer):
Douglas Witmer : Recent Paintings, April 1-27, 2002
Reception: First Friday, April 5, 6:00-8:00 pm
PENG GALLERY 35 S 3rd Street Philadelphia PA 19106 215.629.5889 penggallery.com
Witmer’s large-scale works take their cues as much from early Renaissance devotional panels as they do from high Modernist color-field painting. Pared down to simple shapes, his abstract compositions create sensations of architectural spaces receding away from the viewer. They may evoke images such as rooms, doors, and stairs; or ideas of dwelling or passage. But through the choice of color and an emphasis on the physicality of contrasting surfaces, they are painted in such a way so as to make any illusion fail easily.

By the way, our friend Willie just got to see Godspeed you black emperor in Copenhagen and had good things to say. My friend Krister also saw them in Sweden earlier in the week and was definitely more excited, since this was his first chance to see them and Willie is spoiled, having seen them at least a couple of times previously. Willie got busted trying to bootleg the show for me on his minidisc. Lighten up europe! I’m still waiting to hear his Spiritualized bootleg. I think the live recordings are important to increase devotion among fans. I’ve become hooked on bands I’ve seen live just as much as bands whose records I’ve purchased. I could listen to GYBE bootlegs all day long and not tire. Enough ranting.
:::scott:::