AND SO IT BEGINS...

So the 2008 Major League Baseball season has begun and so far things are rosey.

The Mets win today... besting the Marlins 7-2. Johan Santana looked great. Davod Wright blew the game open with a two out, bases loaded double. The Bullpen looked good. The Phillies lost. The Braves lost last night.

All is well with the universe.

Very nice game. The umpiring actually cost Santana a perfect game with calling two start balls on what should have been called three strikes to Hanley Ramirez... the umpire wasn't overly good. Also Reyes was WAY safe on his stolen base attempt. Ah well... either way the game was tight and the team looked good.

I was glad to see some VERY good at bats from Ryan Church... especially with Lastings Milledge hitting a home run and scoring the go-ahead run i the 9th for Washington today (Nats are in first place by the way with a 2-0 record!). Church hit the ball hard.. had an RBI single and was robbed of another one later in the game by a great play by Ramirez.

I liked the hustle and head's up defense that Schneider showed today. His bat is going to be a rough one to swallow at times (I'd be ESTATIC if he hit .265, but .240 is more likely) but his defense is going to be a huge plus. I'll feel better when Castro is off the DL to provide occasion pop and some solid hitting from the catcher position though.

The only one that really concerned me was Delgado. I couldn't really tell if he looked decent at the plate or not... was hard to tell. I'm hoping he gets things in line though.

I would have left Sosa in to pitch the ninth, but it looks like Willy is trying to establish definite roles for the bullpen. I guess I shouldn't be second guessing his moves one game into the season.

So Pedro goes tommorrow! Looking forward to seeing him. I expect good things from Pedro this year. I don't see why 27-29 starts should be out of the question. I expect him to hit a lull at some point where he might need extra rest... but overall I have a good feeling about his health and his role this year.

My predictions for the Mets and everyone else should be posted tonight or tommorrow. Look for it!

DID YOU KNOW?: KISS- THE ELDER

Following the footsteps of other bloggers, I've decided to try to introduce a few ongoing features here at Rocket Ramblings. The first of these is going to be "DID YOU KNOW?"

DID YOU KNOW? is going to be little tib-bits in Pop Culture that you may never have heard about.

So, I'm sure everyone has heard of KISS.

If you haven't... well... move on. You won't care about this.

The rest of you... I'm sure you know all about KISS' original days in make-up and their hard rock roots.

And you most likely know they delved into an attempt at some more exposure (and money) with a "disco" track (I Was Made For Loving You) on their 1979 album 'Dynasty'.

What you may NOT know, is that in 1981, the band released a concept album looking to expand their fan base and raise the sagging sales from their 1980 Album 'Unmasked'.

KISS was going through some transition in 1981. Their original drummer, Peter Criss, was no longer in the group, having been either booted out or had left on his own accord (depending on who is telling the story) due to some serious substance abuse problems (Criss had barely played on 1979's 'Dynasty' and not at all on 1980's 'Unmasked'). While the group was doing well overseas, their popularity in America was waining. Sales on 'Unmasked' were low and the tour didn't do as well as past tours. While the band debated internally about returning to a more heavier sound like their original albums (ie: Dressed to Kill) ... it was decided that a broader, and more artsist statement was needed to refresh the KISS ARMY (the name for the bands rabid fans) and lure in some new fans. Despite a loud protest by lead guitarist Ace Frehley, who hated the notion, Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons (along with creative manager Bill Aucion) went ahead with a plan for a concept album in the vein of Pink Floyd's 'THE WALL'.

Having worked with Bob Ezrin (co-producer of 'THE WALL') before, the Band went into the studio with him... looking to create something that would renew America's interest in KISS.

What came from those sessions was 'MUSIC FROM THE ELDER'.

MUSIC FROM THE ELDER was a concept album that wrapped songs around a storyline that tells of a young boy who is recruited and trained by The Council of Elders (of the Order of the Rose), a mysterious group who is dedicated to combating evil in all forms. The Boy is trained and cared for by an elderly caretaker who goes by the name of Morpheus (sounds a little like the Matrix now that I think of it). The album's lyrics describe the journey, training, and mindset of the Boy as he travels and eventually arrives at the temple of the Elders, undergoings his training and prepares for whatever quest he'll be placed into.

When KISS played 'THE ELDER' for their management and record company, the reaction was fairly negative. No one could understand why the band would take such a dramatic step away from their normal sound and musical direction. Business manager Howard Marks refused to allow his company's name to even appear in the liner notes of the album. If KISS thought the record company's reaction was bad, they were totaly unprepared for their fan's reaction. They seemed to hate it. The backlash was loud and harsh. The ironic thing was that the music critics, who had been KILLING KISS for years, loved it. KISS got more positive reviews from the likes of Rolling Stone and other magazines/critics than they ever had before. However, the good reviews of the critics weren't enough. The album made only a brief appearance on the charts. After being released in November 1981, it peaked at #75 and was off the charts completely by February 1982.

The planned tour for the album went south too. The negitive reaction was so strong that plans for the tour were completely scrapped. The only real promotion for the album at all was an appearance on the tv show "Fridays" where they played three of the songs and one appearance at Studio 54 that Frehley refused to even participate in.

Frehley, who had disagreed with the concept in the first place, left the group over THE ELDER.

Rumors have flown for years stating that the original plan was that THE ELDER was actually to be a movie and that the album was only what it said it was: the music for the film. Whether or not this is true I really don't know. The album was also supposed to have dialouge (lines from the film's script?) weaved throughout the songs, but none of it made it to the final product. Only one song (the song "I") had any spoken words at all (at the end of the song, Morphus proclaims to the Elders that The Boy is ready for his mission).

Now for the ironic part. The die-hard KISS fans who lambasted the album and refused to buy it, killing the sales and the tour?

Well, they freaking LOVE it now.

Ask any hard KISS ARMY fanatic what his three favorite KISS albums are... and odds are, one of them will be THE ELDER.

The legend of the album grew and spread over the years following the 1981 release. At one point it was difficult to get a copy. Rumors about a film popped up as early as 1982 and lasted as long as the early 90s. The idea that there was a story behind the music eventually drew in fans of concept albums and Sword and Sorcery fans who were not normally familar with KISS' music.

I, myself, was introduced to THE ELDER by a friend in High School, Chris Sauer. Chris was (and still is) a HUGE KISS fanatic. He played the album for me back in 1986... and I loved it. It was dark and moody and very, very compelling. Like a lot of others, I was facinated by the idea that there was this huge saga-like storyline behind the music that had yet to see daylight.

Today, THE ELDER is fondly revered by KISS fans and requests for an "Elder-centric" tour have been constantly voiced over the last ten years. Despite the fact it caused a rift between the band (one that lasted for years) and was even denouced by all involved (Stanley, Simmons and Ezrin all admitted that idea was a HUGE mistake and all went on to blast the album years later) THE ELDER is a facinating page in the history on a group not known for their high concepts at the time.

Recommended tracks: Odyssey, The Oath, and A World without Heroes.

ROCKETING TO HEAVEN




Fuck.

Yeah, I said fuck.

Today I found out (on comicbookresources.com) that Rocketeer creator/artist/writer Dave Stevens passed away after a long battle with Luekemia. Dave was 53.

Obviously, I was a HUGE Dave Stevens fan. The Rocketeer is not only a great comic and fun movie for me. It's a part of my identity... something that I identified with strongly. There are an entre mess of people who know me as "Rocky" or "Rocket". It's been my nickname (and my email address) for over fifteen years.

Dave Stevens is actually more known for his modern renditions of Betty Page then he is The Rocketeer. It was due to Dave's love of Betty and amazing artwork of her (and her use in the pages of the Rocketeer as Cliff Secord's girlfriend) that brought Betty out of seclusion and back into the public eye.

Dave's unreal talent was unmistakenable. His comic book covers and lithograhps are the stuff of dreams. His ttention to detail and the beauty he brought out in his artwork is instantly reconizable.

I got the chance to meet Dave at the 1998 DragonCon in Atlanta. Dave was there doing signings but NOT doing sketches. After talking with him for a while, Dave pulled me aside and told me (hushed) that if I left one of the white boards I was using for sketches with him, he might have a present for me by the end of the con... but it had to be a secret, because he did NOT want to get into doing a mound of sketches.

The next day, I was walking in Artists Alley when I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Dave. He motioned with his head for me to follow him. We went to his table and he handed me a brown paper bag.

"Our secret right?" he said.

"Absoultely." I responded. "What do I o-"

"Get the hell out of here, you don't owe me anything." he cut me off. "The least I can do for a guy walking around with a name tag that says 'RocketeerZ' huh?"

I chatted with Dave a little more and even got to sit behind the table with him for a few minutes. The friends I was with at the Con have teased me ever since that dave must have needed to take out a restraining order on me to get me away from there.

The sketch he did was a simple Rocketeer helmet. He had personalized it for me and signed it. I freaking love it.

It most likely only took him a couple of minutes... but the fact he took the time to do it meant the world to me.

I've heard a lot of things about Dave over the years, (especially from his ex-wife horror scream queen Brooke Stevens) but I will always rememeber him as a great and personable guy who created something that touched me and a guy that gave me the single greatest comic-book related item I own.

Rest In Peace Dave. The world is a little darker without you.

THE RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE

Well, I've made it no secret over the last eight years that I am a huge supporter of John McCain. I wanted him to win the nomination back in 2000 and was highly disappointed that he did not.

I'm not looking to go into a long post of why I support McCain (although I plan on doing so soon). I just wanted to express my contentment that he won the Republican nomination. For the first time in a long time I'm comfortable with the Republican nominee.

I know his age is a factor to consider, but I really think McCain is the man for this job. I'll list why soon.

Conratulations to him for his victory. Already I have much better feelings about the future of this country.

I hope those positive feelings remain.

As for Obama and Clintoover the democratic way... I have to wonder if many democrats were hoping for an Obama sweep... if only to allow the dems to focus on the fight against McCain instead of at each other. Clinton's strong showing in Ohio was huge though... it showed that the dems aren't quite ready to name Obama their top dog... and if memory serves me right... no candidate has ever won the election who didn't also win Ohio.

Let the games begin.

FIGHTING THE INJURY BUG

First, Carlos Delgado goes back to New York for an MRI on his hip.

Then Ryan Church and Marlon Anderson collide in the field and both need to be helped off.

Looks like Church has a concussion and will be out about two weeks.

That's just... great. Four games into the preseason and the walking wounded are already piling up.

I hope everyone is ok. We cannot afford long term injuries here.

I wonder if the Nationals would consider trading (oft-injured) Nick Johnson since Dimetri Young was given a multi-year contract to play first base last year? How about Nomar from the Dodgers, seeing that he's not assured a starting job at all? We could use some serious help here if Delgado is on the shelf for more than like a week or two.