I checked out Kill Bill tonight and I'll definitely see it again. I've often thought Tarantino was somewhat overrated, but I can't think of any negatives about this movie. The worst part of it all is that its a two parter. I didn't want to leave the theatre after it was over. Totally wanted to sit through another 2 hours to see the climax. I suppose they could have cut edited some of the fight scenes out and maybe a minute or two of the anime to make one 2:30 - 3hr movie (and then give us the full scenes on a Criterion DVD), but thats quite OK. It captivating enough that I was never bored. For a martial arts flick, its flawless; he manages to pay homage to old school kung fu films while putting a uniquely american stamp on the genre. Couple this with a (typically) slick soundtrack and beautiful cinematography and you've got what we can refer to as "Vintage Tanantino".

Oh Fuck.

Utterly stunned.

It appears as though Elliot Smith has committed suicide as reported by Pitchfork If you don't have any of his work you're missing out on argueably the best singer-songwriter of our generation. Most all of his 5 CDs all pretty good but if I were to recommend a cd or two, Elliot Smith or EitherOr are my personal faves. Really, really sucks.

Feeling a bit better about game 7. Still a bit embittered though. Who knows what off season pickups lie in store for the yankees, but defensively up the middle, they can use upgrading across the board. All four of 'em: Posada, Jeter, Soriano, and Williams are subpar defensively. While they are all in the top tier offensively, they all have holes there as well:

-Posada is probably the most solid compared to other players at his position either league. But he's been playing an aweful lot of games the past few years. Catchers do fall apart and it may not come next year, but the clock is ticking for Jorge. I don't think I'll be picking him in my fantasy league next year.
-Soriano: yes he can hit for power and has speed, but he lacks plate discipline. His on base percentage (.338) is not much higher than his batting average (.290) (38 walks in 682 at bats). Granted, when your second baseman hits 38 homers and steals 35 bases, you can probably live with that. Move him to the outfield and make him take more pitches and you've got a perennial MVP candidate. Keep it as is and you'll have the most errors in the league at second, and with more failed chances at turning two, you'll be giving extra outs to the opposition.
-Bernie Williams. He doesn't have the first step that he used to have. How many outs become singles and singles become doubles before a change is made? Offensively, his totals (15 himers, 64 RBIs) were down because he was out for 40+ games, but his OPS is a weak .778. You need better production from center than a .407 slugging percentage.
-Jeter. I'll admit that I based my suspicions that Jeter wasn't all that offensively on 2002 data (y'know, when I was last in the states where this sort of information just sorta seeps in, but thats another discussion for another time). And I'll say this, he's a good post season player. OK, so he did finish with a .324 batting average, his best since 2000. In a shortened season, he hit 10 homers, 54 RBIs in 119 games, with an OPS of .843. Incidentally, he has driven in over one hundred runs in a season only once!?! Anyway, very good OPS, but not if you consider this guy in the same league as Garciaparra (28 HR, 105 RBI .870 OPS in 156 games; this would have looked better had batted over the mendoza line in september) and ARod (47HR, 118RBI, .995 OPS).

I'm sure first on the yankees wish list is a starting pitcher (Vasquez?) to replace Clemens and Wells. One scenario would be to DH Williams more often and place Soriano in the outfield. But there are two reasons why that would happen: they don't have a defensive replacement for Soriano, and if you place Williams in at DH, you have to place Giambi in at first. Johnson is playing more and more first because he's significantly better than Giambi defensively. Who knows, they could be bold and trade Williams and cash for someone younger.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that this was a team with weaknesses up the middle, an aging starting rotation, and a suspect bullpen (with the obvious exception of super mariano). Throw Aaron fucking Boone and Karin Garcia in to the mix and you've got a beatable team. We had 'em on the ropes but didn't deliver the knockout blow in the 4th, and inexplicably kept a worn out ace on the mound, keeping the door open for an improbable comeback. Again, you never know what they'll pickup and what we'll pickup (and loose) but it was scripted perfectly for the sox to have their defining moment in which they deposed of the bronx bombers in the House That Ruth Built. I think that next year its quite possible that the sox win the AL east ahead of the yankees. But the luster of that will not match what could have been.

That said and out of my system, I can now look forward to regular sleep, warm sydney weather (sunny and 80 today), and a trip to new zealand in the remaining 60 days here. And then maybe a vacation in florida for some spring training baseball. I'll be ready.