Say hey

With the news that the name of SBC Park -- née Pacific Bell Park -- will be changed once again to something like AT&T Park, the drumbeat for "Mays Field" as common parlance for the Giants' stadium will surely become louder.

Although it was before my time, I believe one of the San Francisco daily newspapers consistently refused to refer to Candlestick Park by its corporate-sponsored name, simply referring to contests taking place "at Candlestick Point." (As far as I know, nobody says "Monster Park" now.) To most fans, the A's play at "the Coliseum." It seems that the backlash against stadium naming rights often requires a little creativity, but the battle for the public tongue is winnable.

I think the saddest one of all is the former Brendan Byrne Arena, in the New Jersey Meadowlands. They took someone's name off the building while he was still alive. (And he still is!) Ouch.


FMFM: The Arcade Fire's Funeral, which after a half-dozen spins over several months has not improved in my estimation. But for a few nice crescendos, I find myself either waiting for something interesting to happen, or actively deciding to turn down or turn off the record. Possibly I can see it as cerebrally engaging, and I don't really doubt its heart. But only rarely can I see something in it that I would actually enjoy, if I bothered to spend more time with it. And is that an outright theft from the Feelies at the end of track three?