North State Blues

Hot Stove Cold Pencil

2008-11-06T18:35:36Z

Haven't done much drawing lately, school and work have taken my time up lately (two upper-division literature classes will do that to you). Hope to start drawing again soon, but I won't make any empty promises as to when.

As for the last season, it was a fun ride, and I'm glad to have seen them go that far, a good touchstone for upcoming seasons. Hope Manny chooses to stay, the ball's in his court.

Personally, I would hope he would take a 2-3 year contract, and head to the AL after that for the remainder of his career (and hopefully his Dodgers years will help him to get that killer contract). Of course, I'm no GM, but there's a lot of value in not being tied up for too long. he'll make his money now, Boras will make his money, and in two years, they can do this again.

Whatever happens, I don't have much of an NFL team at the moment, so the HSL (Hot Stove League) will more than suffice. My favorite time of the offseason, the baseball equivalent of gawking at tabloid headlines while in line at the grocery store. Let the games begin.

Driving to the Championship

2008-09-27T21:20:41Z

For what it's worth, talking about the Dodgers clinching the West might be a day late and a dollar short, with all eyes on what's going on with the Phils, Brewers and Mets. But this drawing took me a while to get where I wanted it to be. I feel this image perfectly captures the feeling of the Dodgers in 2008. Seeing our younger players get onto the October stage, of course with help from Manny. The oddity of clinching the division while driving to the ballpark. And the milk, well, I'm not sure what that's about, but it evokes the Indy 500 winner's circle in a strange way.

But getting there is only the beginning, we'll see what happens once things get rolling. One thing I can say, though, is I think these guys aren't carrying the 20-year old monkey-on-the-back that has haunted the franchise. And with legitimate offensive threats in our lineup, as well as an awesome pitching staff and great bullpen, the Dodgers have the chance to do some long-term damage, not the limping-into-the-playoffs performance we had in '06.

Now it's just the Giants, then waiting to see who we face. With all the rain back east, I heard on the radio that the Dodgers might fall into a scenario where they take to the air not knowing what city their flight will end up. If deciding games go into extra innings, that means the Dodgers will have a layover at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago until the game's been decided. Strange for sure.

But (and here comes the Great Cliche) October 1st, it's a new season, and all eight teams are equal. I'm ready, but I think the fans in San Francisco want two more chances to get the last digs at their "hated Dodgers" before it's all done. Me, I'll be working during the first half of the game, so I guess I might be missing out on the fun. Those Dodgers-Giants games are almost always worth the price of admission.

Magic Numbers

2008-09-24T22:03:50Z

Just putting up a quick post while I run some errands and get back to the drawing board well before gametime...

The last couple of decades that the Dodgers have had, it's strange to be on this side of the Magic Number bubble. Even though the number is 3 (thanks to the STL RedBirds!), I remember that there's no guarantee in that. The Media seems to be dead convinced that the Dodgers have their ticket punched. I'll be convinced when it's clinched, but that doesn't mean I'm sweating it. This cautious optimism is less "cautious" and more "optimistic".

Things are definitely looking up now, though. As George Carlin once said (as Rufus at the start of "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure"), "The air is clean, the water's clean, even the dirt is clean." That's how it feels right now. It's an unfamiliar feeling, and it's tempered by remembering how competitive our division has been to begin with. But when October comes, the slate is clean, and it's just 3 more series to win.

Maybe 3 IS a magic number.

But last night for us commenter at the Inside the Dodgers blog, the magic number was 27. We were talking game time, and 27 kept popping up. It was Matt Kemp's 24th birthday (jersey number 27), it was one of the posters' 27th home game, 2 posters had a birthday on the 27th, and I'm 27, and I was wearing a Jimi Hendrix (27 club member, morbid, but still a 27) t-shirt that was blue, as Vin Scully entered the 2nd inning to Hendrix's cover of Bob Dylan's "All Around the Watchtower" in the background.

Either all those 27's paid off, or baseball superstition's made me crazy. Either way, I enjoyed the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Doors and Nirvana today at work (all 3 have lead singers/guitarists who are in that infamous 27 club). Just in case...

Be back soon

The Cellar Dwellers

2008-09-23T17:25:38Z

Today's the start of a big series for the Dodgers against the San Diego cellar-dwelling Padres. It doesn't matter what SD's record is, though. If they're out of contention, they live for one thing in November: eliminating the Dodgers from Postseason contention. They'll be out in force tonight, going that same extra mile the Jints went in the last series to snag every ball within 7 feet of them. In my paranoid mind, they're confrencing with the Giants right now, comparing notes on every Dodgers player on every level of relevance.

But only one thing can be certain for now: What was once a 4 1/2 game lead is now a 2 game lead, and we have 6 to play. Sure, we can hope the Cards will do our work for us, but if the Dodgers want to make the Postseason, now would be the time to earn it, since there is no coasting when within a week of the season's end, and SD and SF on tap.

Will post another blog before too long...

Lest We Forget...

2008-09-23T02:19:08Z

After that last series, this is the only thing that is keeping my spirits up. Well, that and we're still in 1st. Before the ARI-STL game tonight, ESPN still gave the Dodgers a 93% chance of making the playoffs. Looking at the 3-1 ARI score now, I'm sure that number will go down. The Dodgers will either celebrate clinching the division at the Phone Booth, or the Jints will be dancing on the shards of broken dreams.

Either way, this is the kind of stuff I live for. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have the playoffs clinched a long time ago. But it's never that easy for the Dodgers, and this is why the Dodgers-Giants rivalry is among the most storied in sports, I can't think of many rivalries that have crossed a continent almost intact.

So bring it on, Giants. We're ready, and now we're angry too.

Bionic

2008-09-11T01:28:06Z

I've had this picture drawn for a while, but with homework (took me forever to get through cuckoo's nest, and now I have to read through the end of both parts of Henry IV as well as Doctorow's "The Book of Daniel") I havent' gotten around to finishing it. It's modeled after Dr. Dre's album "The Chronic", since Andre's used Dr. Dre beats for his at-bat music the past couple of years.

Also, I typed up a quick cover of a song by the World Class Wreckin' Cru, the group Dr. Dre was with in the mid-80's, back in the days when he'd perform wearing scrubs and a surgical mask and cap (which explains the "Dr." part). You can find the song on his retrospective album of pre-NWA stuff, "First Round Knock Out". Very 80's, robot voices and record scratching, good stuff. Two 'Dres from L.A., just seemed to fit. Here's the cover, "He's Bionic":

He's Bionic
He's Bionic
He's Bionic -onic -onic -onic Aaaah!
He's Bionic
He's Bionic

There's no measure of the skills that are in 'Dre's hands
People ask "is he machine or man?"
If you need wins, just call on 'Dre
People take a look, 'cause he's your future, L.A.
When he swings the bat, you all will know
Because the baseball starts to smoke, and the stands explode
If you're a sucka in the way, then I have a comment
Pitch around the man if you don't like embarassment

He's Bionic! YES!
He's Bionic! SO FRESH!
He's Bionic! YES!
He's Bionic! SO FRESH!

Acquired the skill that you must learn
To be an L.A. Dodger, not an Anaheim turn
Always seen with Ethierholics by his side
With his athletic prowess, all are satisfied
His supersonic bat is his ace in the hole
Over all the top rightfielders, Andre's in control
He operates in L.A. 'cause it's the place to be
He's B-I-O-N-I-C

He's Bionic! YES!
He's Bionic! SO FRESH!
He's Bionic! YES!
He's Bionic! SO FRESH!

Now as the lumber starts burnin' and the offense explodes
The out-of-town scoreboard makes the snakes corrode
Humiliation level rises to degrees unknown
Performance overloaded and their chances are blown
Now you hear a loud thunder that vibrates the ground
'Cause his hands are movin faster than the speed of sound
The rest of the West runs, and they try to avoid
But it's too late 'cause the race is destroyed

He's Bionic! YES!
He's Bionic! SO FRESH!
He's Bionic! YES!
He's Bionic! SO FRESH!

He's Bionic!

EDIT: the link color is so light, but if you click on the "He's Bionic" title just before the song, it'll take you to a youtube link to the song.

Driving out the Snakes...

2008-09-08T00:29:21Z

I've said this line a lot over the past 2 weeks, that the Dodgers needed to pull a St. Patrick and drive out the Snakes. I didn't want to do this unless they swept the DBags, which I didnt' think there was a chance of... but I'm wrong again, and happy to be so!

Just 19 more games...

"Joe Cool"

2008-09-04T04:14:23Z

Got a late start on this drawing, but here it is, in honor of Joe Beimel and his close-out performance last night. Had a longer day at work than normal, and that's a good thing. Have to catch up on my reading when the game's over. It's hard to step away, even to eat, when it gets close like this one.

As always, these drawings are based off of pictures I have in the Dodgers calendar, program, or in articles online. I don't own the images or anything, just the drawings themselves as physical entities. Not that I plan on making any money, but I would feel wrong if I didn't point that out. Maybe after I cut my teeth on a few more drawings, I could start attempting totally original drawings, but I'm still trying to work with proportions and stuff at this level.

Okay, back to the game. GO DODGERS

Bills, Bills, Bills

2008-09-03T03:44:34Z

Had to catch up on half of "A Midsummer Night's Dream", in the middle of reading "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and have to start "The First Part of Richard IV" before the night's over. So to keep my drawing streak alive, I've taken an older pic of Chad Billingsley (my first of this series of Dodger drawings) and finally finished it. I had already shaded it in on the computer, but although the colors are brighter that way, I prefer the look of it shaded in. My girlfriend's trying to get me to use pastels and make larger scale drawings... If I had time, I'd definitely do that.

Dodgers beating on the Pads, Cards beating on the DBags. I don't wanna say much 'cause the games are still going, but I'll let a TV theme speak for me:

Keepin' your head above water,
Makin' a wave when you can,
Ain't we lucky we got 'em,
GOOD TIMES!

"I've Gotta Be Me"

2008-09-02T01:29:15Z

Wow, actually finished one before gametime. And today we have the Padres. I hate the Padres, easily tied with the Giants. Ever since I was a kid, I've hated 'em. I guess it started because they'd be the team my family would go watch the most, since I have family from the Oceanside area. We'd go as a group once a year to a Dodgers-Padres game, and as a kid, I didn't quite grasp how anyone couldn't be a Dodgers fan. I guess I was drinking the Tommy Lasorda Kool-Aid.

Maddux is pitching tonight. The last time he faced the Padres was September 15th, 2006, and I was there, Dodgers v. Padres, Maddux v. Wells, 2nd place v. 1st place. You could feel the electricity in the air. In hindsight, maybe I should've caught the game three days later, but I haven't regretted going to that game.

Anyways, enough blabbing. GO DODGERS

UPDATE: I guess I'm wrong, thought it was a 7:10 game, so I've missed the first 5 innings or so. I'm glad I got it done before the end of the game.

"O Captain, My Captain"

2008-09-01T02:09:19Z

After I had posted my last drawing up, and the Dodgers were finding their way out of an 8 game losing streak, messagebear from the ITD blog jokingly said I'd have to keep drawing 'em. I knew that whatever worked to end that streak, I didn't want to change it, so here's another one, this one of the Captain, Russell Martin.

Drew it late last night, then inked and colored it during the game. This time I used crayon, since it takes only 10 minutes with crayon, as opposed to 60 minutes for me using a photo editing program. I used too light a color, but whatever.

Good to see the team keeping it up. I'm gonna go enjoy the rest of the game.

GO DODGERS

Tex and Tatanka

2008-08-31T02:14:43Z

So after posting that old drawing last night, I felt compelled to do another drawing, into the late hours of the night. Then I've spent the past two hours coloring it in with a photo editor (The GIMP, and that's not a Pulp Fiction reference) because I couldn't find my colored pencils. As much time as I've taken coloring it in, I've grown tired of getting every last white pixel, so I'll probably color this and my Billingsley pic in later.

But while I've been at work, the Dodgers have been winning. These two have had a part in it so far, Kemp coming up with a HR. And Manny's been slammin' these last couple of days, getting the St. Patrick award so far.

Now I'm gonna enjoy the rest of the game. GO DODGERS

Still DRE

2008-08-29T23:58:25Z

Hey all. Today's a big game, and the Dodgers hopes are riding on this series. I thought I might post a drawing I did of Andre Ethier since he's in the lineup against a lefty again.

This past summer, I spent some nights bored, so I decided to start drawing, and used my Dodgers calendar as the subject for the drawings. I planned to do the whole team, but of course, that would take a lot of time, and I don't have much of that lately.

Maybe I'll start drawing again at some point soon, in between homework and work. Now it's time for the Dodgers to start making like St. Patrick and start driving the snakes outta first! GO DODGERS.

MacArthur Parked

2008-08-14T09:48:30Z

Wow... I've neglected this webpage for a while. This won't be the case for long, as I'll be sure to take better care of my blog, and post more often. I shall return.

- John
northstateblues

Remembering Brooklyn Again

2008-04-15T15:59:06Z

I've delayed writing more about Brooklyn because I found it hard to convey how I feel It seems that in this year that celebrates the Golden Anniversary of the Dodgers comming to Los Angeles, it becomes that much harder for the 21st century Dodgers fan to connect with the team's East Coast heritage. Where it once seemed that Dodgertown would forever serve as that connection, now even those hallowed grounds have been deserted, with the Dodgers moving light posts, street signs and even the big Dodgertown sign westward with them.

Part of me likes the fact that they're moving to Arizona, as it increases the likelihood that I'd get to see a Dodgers spring training game. For me to go to Vero Beach, I'dve had to save up a ton of money just for the flight. This is selfish, though. I honestly think that the team will be missing something from now on, as they've torn their roots from the East Coast for good.

The main reason that I started the last post about Brooklyn with me meeting some of the 1987 Dodgers and standing on the field was to contrast with how much the Brooklyn Dodgers meant to the people of Brooklyn. The Dodgers lived within blocks of Ebbets field, and would walk to the park, soon finding some of the community of Brooklyn walking with them. There was Happy Felton's Knothole Gang, a television program that ran before Dodgers games that had kids learning the game from Happy Felton and some of the Brooklyn Dodgers. According to the HBO movie Ghosts of Flatbush, the reason Brooklyn loved their Dodgers so much was because they unified their community, which was independent from NYC until the turn of the century. As it said in Ghosts of Flatbush, as vestiges of Brooklyn's independence disappeared, the Dodgers were one thing that never changed.

Seeing the picture of the Bum crying as a giant hand ripped out a heart-shaped swatch of Brooklyn with Ebbets Field makes me feel really emotional, even though I've never been to NYC. I consider myself a HUGE baseball fan, and the Dodgers have been my team as long as I was able to understand the game of baseball. But to me, the team will never fully be "ours", in the sense of California's. When you look at the deed that brought the Dodgers into existence, the word "Dodgers" never appears on the paper, just four words: Brooklyn Base Ball Club. With Vin Scully, Tommy Lasorda and now Joe Torre, we still have connections to New York and the East Coast, but in another 50 years, what will remain? In Los Angeles, there are a ton of sports options for your money, and with a team like the L.A. Lakers in town, the Dodgers could never hope to become the single consciousness of an area as it seemed they were in Brooklyn.

The two times the team's been for sale in my lifetime, I'd been scared at the media's half-joke about the sound of Brooklyn collecting up their loose change for a chance to buy the team, scared that my Dodgers might be leaving me, without understanding that they left Brooklyn first. The next time the team's for sale, I hope I could hear that sound in Brooklyn, and part of me will be rooting for them.