Paris Roubaix Predictions

A dry, warm, and dusty Roubaix? Sounds about as likely as a Boston Marathon in the pouring rain, but that's what we will have.
Podium will contain Boonen,Hoste, and Cancellara. Top ten will be fleshed out by Ballan,Flecha, Pozzatto, Nuyens, Hammond,O'Grady,Gusev. I would love to see Magnus Backstedt ride to the front but I think he will work early for Pozzatto and be done.
T-Mobile with Knaven,Hammond, and Klier could be one to watch especially when you consider they have Gent-Whevelgam winner Marcus Burghardt as team leader.

Cannot wait.

Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway "Where is the Love" 45

This was a real dynamic duo. Their creative interplay together and on each other's records is amazing. This 45 should be familiar to most, unfortunately thanks to the Black Eyed Peas. Regardless I wanted to take a minute and show love to Donny Hathaway a tortured genius who composed some real heart rending soul without any sap.
His take on Ghetto life in the 70s was a huge influence on many who came later(Ghostface for example) Even a quick check of thebreaks.com will show you he has been sampled by everyone for Beck to Too Short and Wu Tang to B.I.G. His music has that timeless quality that people can always come back to. His Altantic LPs from the early 70s Everything is Everything, Donny Hathaway, Live, Roberta & Donny, and Extensions of Man span a 3 year 5 album run of brilliance. The depression that impacted his career and may have taken his life is always lurking in the often melancholy grooves. Despite this he managed to write the theme song to.... "Maude"???? Who knew. Maybe Bea Arthur explains the sadness.
I think I have made clear how much I love Roberta so I won't push that any further. This was the real deal for a "creative partnership" and if you don't know go check him out.

Roubaix mania -waiting for the start lists

Even without seeing the start list the big names are obvious choices Cancellara,Boonen,Ballan, and Hoste. Backstedt returns. Gusev may be a revelation? Don't forget Flecha. But no predictions until tomorrow.
The next best thing will be the slew of cyclingnews and pezcyling roubaix tech photos. High end bikes modified to thrive in the hell of the north. Bring it.
Awesome quote from Cancellara "And Roubaix is a race that all comes down to how hard you are in the head."

Luchs Brothers Hara Krishns Stomp

This is some KBD/Back to the Front obsuro punk from the Incognito Label. 2 songs "Hara Krishna Stomp" b/w "Kill me I'm Rotten" Chicago was the hom of these, supposedly, 4 brothers. HK stomp was recorded in 94 and the fkiop is a live version of the a side of their 1st single.
HK Stomp comes off as more Dr.Demento or Mojo Nixon singing over a weak Byrds rip off more than classic KBD fare. The Byrds verse gives way to a ham handed classic rock chorus. Pleasingly incompentent and maybe the singer was influenced by Freddy Blaise on one of the wrestling albums.
"Kill me I'm Rotten" is a by the numbers Sex Pistols tribute. Faux English accent for the Chicago boys. Good tune, but not earth shattering. Guitarist has some super solo pretensions over an otherwise chugging bar band stomp.
This seems more like a novelty band that is collectable when thrown under the KBD umbrella rather than a crucial slice of 70s punk.
Budget sleeve contain a lot of info which makes up for the xerox look.
This 45 was #146/333 in the "333xUp and down" series? not exactly sure what other records were in that series, but this is allegedly the last. Grey wax and stamped semi generic labels.

Kurt Vonnegut RIP

The fact that Don Imus lives and is discussed 24/7 and Vonnegut dies is the kind of heinous irony that Vonnegut would have built a book around.

Cycling news

Ghent Whevlegam victory went to Marcus Burghardt (T-mobile) with Roger Hammond in 2nd and Freire in 3rd. Huge win for T-Mobile and Hammond shows he is in form for next Sunday. Sadly Tyler Farrar and American on Cofidis broke his kneecap on the descent of the kemmelberg. Freire is having a hell of a season and if he stays injury free could be a danger all year. Words of wisdom courtesy of Roger Hammond on how to avoid a crash, "I haven't seen all the replays, but you could see riders hitting the brakes. It's fatal, but it's a reaction. You cannot brake in a situation like that. You have to steer to avoid the crash." Further information on not braking "Tom Boonen commented dryly, "Actually, you can ride over the bidons normally. The only thing you shouldn't do is brake because there's something in front of your wheel, because then you somersault over the handlebars."
Pais Vaisco has three hilly stages left. Ángel Vicioso has the overall on GC. DeLuca and Valverde sit about 2 to 3 minutes back.
France's short stage race Cicuit de la Sarthe has Andreas Kloden in 1st overall with Brad Wiggins 2 seconds back. 2 stages left to race. Team Slipstream is their with their best place rider at 3rd! Even with the hideous uniforms, you have to respect this team for slugging it out in Europe.
Sea Otter classic kicks off today. Road Race on Saturday.
Tour of Georgia starts up on the 16th.
3 days til Paris Roubaix!

Mercy 7" Nuclear War Now Reissue

1981 in Sweden and Mercy are ready to make some noise. NWOBHM is the style and influence. 4 tracks here. Slightly above demo quality. Andre "the witchking" provides some blazing leads. "Beggin for Mercy" and "Shadow Woman" have a cool Judas Priest feel. JP are a clear influence on these guys. Dreams kicks off side 2 and is a real stand out track. They break out all the tricks for this including a smashing bottle and a toy xylophone(? just a guess).
The productionn is not bad, but with a little more power these could have been standout tracks in their day. "Stranger from the Dark" finishes it off.
Middle Aged Metal Heads take not and go get it. It makes more sense than buying another round of Iron Maiden remasters.......
Both Mercy logos are worthy of a bootleg t-shirt. Somebody get on it
Available from Nuclear War Now Productions who have an amazing reissue of thrash metal masters Midnight.

Ballan wins Tour of Flanders!

It is impressive that Ballan who showed promise last year managed to build on that and make it one year later to the top step of the podium. Sounded like a great race, I watched the updates on my computer. Lot of crashes for a dry day. Hoste should he was ready to rumble.
As far as my race picks, I was 1 for 3 for the podium and 3 out of 10 for the top ten. Hopefully Cancellara's 30KM breakaway attempt was good training for a podium repeat next week. Zabel will not be racing PR!
I get to try again in six day for Pari Roubaix!

JJ Heado beat Graeme Brown and Pettachi in Germany to win Rund um Köln. He is having a breakout season for CSC

Pais Vasco kicks off with something like 35 rated climbs over a 6 stage race. Contador,Valverde,Sammy Sanchez, DeLuca, and Cunego are the men I will be watching.