Springsteen

Just one night after headlining the Hurricane Sandy relief telethon, Bruce Springsteen was in Louisville performing live at the Yum! Center downtown. My wife and I attended with some old friends. We previously saw Springsteen shows together at Rupp Arena in Lexington on November 14, 2002 (with 2 of the same friends), and at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California on May 3, 1988. I also saw him before we were dating at the Cap Centre in Landover, Maryland, August 26?, 1984. She saw him without me in 1980, perhaps at this show.

Last night's concert was fantastic. Though Springsteen is now 63, he played for more than three hours and demonstrated all the enthusiasm and energy of a much younger man. I found concert reviews at the Courier-Journal website and in Lexington's ace weekly paper.

This is the setlist:

Shackled and Drawn
Lonesome Day
Hungry Heart
We Take Care Of Our Own
Wrecking Ball
Death to My Hometown
My City of Ruins
Spirit in the Night
The E Street Shuffle
Streets of Philadelphia
Atlantic City
Because The Night
She’s the One
Growing Up
Open All Night
Darlington County
Waitin’ on a Sunny Day
The River
The Rising
Badlands
Land of Hope and Dreams

Encore

Rocky Ground
Born to Run
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Dancing in the Dark
Tenth Avenue Freeze-out

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Personal update

My house is now in its 9th day of darkness, but the electrical crews have been working on the street all day. Cross your fingers. We're among the last 5% in Louisville to get power.

My Louisville Sluggers are in the World Series for 2008 season B! We start over after the all star break and I never provided an update from the first half draft results. The is my lineup for the matchup:

C John Buck (KC)
1B Joey Votto (CIN)
2B Alexi Casilla (MIN)
3B Edwin Encarnacion (CIN)
SS Troy Tulowitzki (COL)
OF Carlos Beltran (NYM)
OF Adam Jones (BAL)
OF Carlos Gomez (MIN)
DH Coco Crisp (BOS)

SP Josh Beckett (BOS)
SP Ricky Nolasco (FLO)
SP Josh Johnson (FLO)
SP Rich Harden (CHC)
SP Tim Lincecum (SF)
RP Grant Balfour (TB)
RP Jose Arredondo (LAA)
RP Mike Adams (SD)

Bench:
C Carlos Ruiz (PHI)
1B Billy Butler (KC)
2B Esteban German (KC)
IF Eric Bruntlett (PHI)
UT Jeff Larish (DET)
UT Wes Helms (FLO)
3B Wes Hodges (CLE) (minors)
OF Jeremy Hermida (FLA)
SP Cha Seung Baek (SD)
SP Fausto Carmona (CLE)
RP Damaso Marte (NYY)

The opposing team has Vlad Guerrero, Manny Ramirez, Justin Morneau, Aramis Ramirez, and some younger, speedy guys. My pitching should be superior, but the hitting might not be enough.

This is a 24 team head-to-head fantasy baseball league using 10 categories: HR, SB, batting average, runs produced average, plate appearances, innings pitched, wins, saves, ERA and ratio.

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I dislike Ike

Sunday, Louisville was hit by very high winds that knocked out electrical power for more than 300,000 people in the Louisville area in the early afternoon. My home has now been without power for about 4 days. Given the damage in the neighborhood and on the street, my family may not have power for several more days. The power company and city government say that some people are going to be without power for 10 to 14 days.

That explains the light blogging. The University has its own coal-fired power plant and did not lose power for any appreciable time. I suspect that many of the lines are buried as there were plenty of downed tree branches and gutters across campus.

For the community, part of the problem is that hundreds of local workers had traveled to Texas to help with the aftermath of Ike. The weather people were only forecasting 30 to 40 mph winds in this area -- not realizing we would actually have Ike-related gusts of 60 and 70 mph.

It's a disaster. More than a 2.5 million people were also without power in Ohio.


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