I just bought a couple of Springsteen tickets for November in Boston. If I had any sense, I'd sell the other kidney and pick up Van Halen tickets, too. Here's some rehearsal footage...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMm419quo1g

Honestly, I think Dave sounds better than 20 years ago. Of course, that's not saying a whole lot if you've ever listened to any VH bootlegs from that era, but I digress.

I'm actually more worried about how Eddie is going to fare on tour, as his physical state was the reason for ths postponement ealrier this year. By the looks of this footage, he's fine.

That's Wolfgang Van Halen...Eddie's 16 year-old kid on bass. Shouldn't he have a paper route or something?

My kinda talk show!

In case you never got around to seeing myself and Lisa Blackburn when we did Global Noon for a few years, here's an out-take.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMAHstZ565w

When the Sox signed Eric Gagne at the trade deadline, I, along with the rest of Red Sox Nation saw him as the last piece of the puzzle as we paraded off to the post season.

Since then, though, I don't know how much sleep I've lost because of Gag-Me. To say he's been a trainwreck is a little bit of an understatement. More like the Space shuttle crashing into the Empire State Building, knocking King Kong off the building onto a schoolbus full of kids.

It's that bad. I'm wishing he stuck to hockey as a career choice.

Hopefully Terry Francona's got his answer now to the question of whether Gagne can be trusted in important situations.

It looks like the Sox have the foot off the pedal, resting Manny, Youkilis, Okajima and Coco Crisp, as they head toward the playoffs. Doesn't really make that much of a difference if they win the division at this point, as they'll still get the wild card since Detroit has shit the bed. The last four World Champs have gotten in with the wild card, so maybe this will all work out after all. But, the Yankees have been playing out of this world since the All-star break, and as long as Jeter and Rivera are breathing, they're going to be tough.

I think winning the division means more to the fans than it does to the team. As long as you can get into the playoffs, and get hot, you can win it all, just like the Sox did in 2004. Still, having to listen to the Yankee fans will be unbearable if they do catch them. We're still hearing about 1978, when the Yanks caught the Sox.

Josh Beckett's going for his 20th win tonight, so hopefully he gets it, although the Devil Rays have Scott Kazmir on the mound, and he's been tough on the Sox.

Holy Crap! Van Halen is back on tour this year. Don't think I'll be going, even though I am a disciple of the Dave Era. Sammy's OK, although he can't touch anything from the Diamond Dave catalogue. I interviewed Sammy about 10-15 years ago, and the was about the classiest guy I've talked to over the years. I still have the signed Van Halen photo that he sent me.

In case you missed the press conference from a few weeks back...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yuVu0N0qGk